and He granted me permission. I asked Him for permission to seek forgiveness for her, but He did not grant me permission. So visit graves, for they remind you of the Hereafter.”

In the hadith recorded in al-Musnad and elsewhere, he said:

“My mother is with your mother in the Fire.”

If it is said, “This occurred in the year of the conquest, whereas their revival took place afterwards, during the Farewell Pilgrimage”—which is why those who mentioned it did so, and which was the explanation offered by the author of al-Tadhkira (The Reminder)—this is false for several reasons:

First: Reports about what has happened or will happen are not subject to abrogation, such as His statement concerning Abū Lahab:

“He will burn in a Fire of blazing flame.”

And His statement concerning al-Walīd:

“I shall burden him with a steep ascent.”

The same applies to the statements, “My father and your father are in the Fire,” and, “My mother and your mother are in the Fire.” This is not a report about a Fire from which its inmates will emerge, as those guilty of major sins do. Had that been the case, seeking forgiveness for them would have been permissible. If Allah had known beforehand that they would believe, He would not have forbidden him to do so, for deeds are judged by their endings. Whoever dies as a believer will be forgiven by Allah, so seeking forgiveness for such a person would not be prohibited.

Second: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, visited his mother’s grave in the year of the conquest because it lay along his route, at al-Hajūn near Mecca. His father, however, was not there, and he did not visit him, since he was buried in Syria, away from his route. How, then, can it be claimed that his father was brought back to life for him?

Third: Had they both been believers whose faith benefited them, they would have been more deserving of renown and remembrance than his two uncles, Hamza and al-ʿAbbās. This is even more far-fetched than the claim made by the ignorant among the Rāfida and others like them