teach his Companions, when they visited graves, to say:

“Peace be upon you, inhabitants of this abode of believers. We will, if Allah wills, join you. May Allah have mercy on those among us and you who have gone before and those who are to follow. We ask Allah for well-being for ourselves and for you. O Allah, do not deprive us of reward on their account, nor put us to trial after them.”

It is related that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace, said:

“No man passes by the grave of someone he knew in this world and greets him without Allah restoring the deceased’s soul to him so that he may return the greeting.”

Allah Most High rewards the living person when he supplicates for a deceased believer, just as He rewards him when he offers the funeral prayer for him. For this reason, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace, forbade doing this for the hypocrites. Allah, exalted is He, said:

“Never pray over any of them who dies, nor stand at his grave.”

Thus, prescribed grave visitation does not involve the living needing the deceased, asking anything of him, or seeking to draw near to Allah through him. Rather, it involves the living benefiting the deceased, as when offering the funeral prayer for him. Allah Most High shows mercy to the deceased through the living person’s supplication and kindness toward him, and rewards the living person for his deed. For it is established in the Sahīh that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace, said:

“When a son of Adam dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge from which people benefit after his death, or a righteous child who supplicates for him.”