Shaykh al-Islām, mufti to the people, the scholar who practised what he taught, the ascetic and scrupulously pious champion of the Sunnah and suppressor of innovation, Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Halīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Taymiyya al-Harrānī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—was asked:

Regarding the hadith reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in which he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah has cursed women who visit graves and those who build mosques over them and place lamps upon them.”

Is it abrogated by his saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“I previously forbade you to visit graves. Now visit them, for they remind you of the Hereafter”?

Or is it not? Is the first hadith authentic? Is visiting graves forbidden, disliked, or recommended for women? If it is considered disliked, does this mean that it is prohibited, or merely discouraged?

Is it authentically established that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Whoever visits my grave will be entitled to my intercession”? Are any hadiths concerning the merit of visiting the Prophet’s grave, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, authentic?

He replied:

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all worlds. As for visiting graves, it is established in an authentic hadith that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, initially issued a general prohibition against it, then granted permission