As for his visits to those buried in al-Baqī‘, these also involved seeking forgiveness and supplicating for them, just as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, taught his community to greet the believers buried in the graves and supplicate for them when visiting them. If women had been permitted to visit graves, it would have been recommended for them just as it is recommended for men, because such visits involve supplicating for the believers and remembering death. Yet we know of no imam who recommended that women visit graves, nor did women in the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his rightly guided caliphs go out to visit graves as men did.

Those who allowed women to visit graves relied on the report that ‘Ā’ishah—may Allah be pleased with her—visited the grave of her brother ‘Abd al-Rahmān, who had died in her absence. She said:

“Had I been present when you died, I would not have visited you.”

This indicates that visiting graves is not recommended for women as it is for men. Had it been so, visiting his grave would have been recommended for her, just as it is recommended for men, whether or not she had been present at his death.

Furthermore, offering the funeral prayer is more strongly enjoined than visiting graves. Nevertheless, it is established in the authentic collection that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade women from following funeral processions, even though this means that they miss the prayer over the deceased. If the prayer and reward involved do not make following funeral processions recommended for women, then what of visiting graves?