al-Harrānī.

These scholars say that such travel is not prohibited, citing the general wording of his statement:

“So visit the graves.”

Some people unfamiliar with hadith may cite reports concerning visiting the Prophet’s grave—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—such as his reported statement:

“Whoever visits me after my death, it is as though he visited me during my lifetime.”

This was narrated by al-Dāraqutnī. As for the statement some people attribute to him:

“Whoever performs Hajj but does not visit me has slighted me,”

none of the scholars narrated it. It is like the statement attributed to him:

“Whoever visits me and my father in the same year, I guarantee him Paradise from Allah.”

This, too, is baseless by scholarly consensus. Ahmad did not narrate it, nor has anyone cited it as evidence. Some of them merely cite al-Dāraqutnī’s hadith as evidence—the respondent subsequently added a marginal note to it.

However, although none of the scholars narrated this report in “books of jurisprudence and hadith,” whether as proof or as supporting evidence, and although some later scholars mentioned it, Abū Ahmad ibn ‘Adī did narrate it in his “Book of Weak Narrators” to demonstrate the weakness of its transmission. He cited it through al-Nu‘mān ibn Shibl al-Bāhilī al-Misrī, from Mālik, from Nāfi‘, from Ibn ‘Umar, who reported that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“Whoever performs Hajj but does not visit me has slighted me.”

Ibn ‘Adī said: “No one other than this man narrated it from Mālik.” That is, it is known that this is not among Mālik’s hadiths, so it is clear that the flaw originated with this narrator.

Yūnus ibn Hārūn said: “This al-Nu‘mān was under suspicion.” Abū Hātim ibn Hibbān said: “He transmits