—others assemble there on the fifteenth of Shaʿbān, and still others at different times altogether, so that each grave comes to have a fixed day in the year when people purposely set out for it and gather around it—just as they go to ʿArafah, Muzdalifah, and Minā on their appointed days, or to the city’s prayer-ground on the two ʿEids. Indeed, the attention devoted to these gatherings, in both religious and worldly terms, is often even greater and more intense.

Among these practices as well is traveling from various towns—whether at a set time or no particular time—solely to make supplication at a given grave and to perform acts of worship there, much as one travels to the House of Allah for that purpose. Regarding such travel, I know of no dispute among Muslims about its prohibition—save for some newly introduced opinion.

I mentioned the two preceding instances as examples of journeys undertaken merely to visit graves. As for traveling with the aim of worship at the grave—through supplication, prayer, or the like—there is absolutely no doubt about its unlawfulness. Some people even call this a “pilgrimage,” saying, “We intend to make pilgrimage to the grave of so-and-so.”

Another example is a gathering held at a particular grave on a certain day of the week.

In short, the very practices carried out at these graves are precisely what the Messenger—peace and blessings be upon him—forbade.