praying over the hypocrites and standing at their graves, this indicated—through both the implication of the wording and the rationale underlying the ruling—that these practices are prescribed for believers. Standing at a believer’s grave after burial is akin to praying over him before burial: its purpose is to supplicate for him. This is the practice established by the Sunnah and recommended by the early generations when visiting the graves of prophets and righteous people.

As for “innovated visits,” they belong to the category of polytheism and the means leading to it, as exemplified by what the Jews and Christians did at the graves of prophets and righteous people. He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said in hadiths widely transmitted in the collections of authentic hadith, the Sunan collections, and the Musnad collections:

“May Allah curse the Jews and Christians, who took the graves of their prophets as places of worship.”

He was warning against what they had done. He also said:

“Those before you used to take graves as places of worship. Take heed: do not take graves as places of worship, for I forbid you to do so.”

He also said:

“Among the worst of people are those who are alive when the Hour overtakes them, and those who take graves as places of worship.”

He also said:

“Allah has cursed women who visit graves and those who establish places of worship over them and place lamps upon them.”

Since he cursed those who take the graves of prophets and righteous people as places of worship, deliberately choosing these graves for supplication cannot be recommended. Wherever supplication is recommended, prayer is also recommended, since supplication following prayer is more likely to be answered. There is no place in Islamic law where prayer is prohibited yet supplication is recommended. The leading scholars, such as al-Shāfiʿī and others, have explicitly stated that this prohibition is motivated