And in the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported to have said:

“No Muslim greets me without Allah restoring my soul to me so that I may return his greeting.”

However, asking the dead to supplicate, or asking anything else of them, is not prescribed.

In Mālik’s Muwatta’, it is reported that Ibn Umar would say:

“Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah. Peace be upon you, O Abū Bakr. Peace be upon you, O my father.”

Then he would leave.

Abd Allāh ibn Dīnār said:

“I saw Abd Allāh ibn Umar stand at the grave of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, invoke blessings upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and supplicate for Abū Bakr and Umar.”

Likewise, it is reported that Anas ibn Mālik and others would greet the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. When they wished to supplicate, they would face the direction of prayer and supplicate to Allah Most High; they would not supplicate while facing the burial chamber. Although some groups of jurists, Sufis, and ordinary people whose views carry no weight have fallen into some of these practices, no imam whose opinions are followed, nor anyone held in general esteem throughout the Muslim community, has endorsed this.

The position of the four imams—Mālik, Abū Hanīfa, al-Shāfi‘ī, and Ahmad—and other imams of Islam is that when a man greets the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and wishes to supplicate for himself, he should face the direction of prayer. They differed regarding the direction to face when greeting him. The three—Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī, and Ahmad—said that he should face the burial chamber and greet him from in front of him. Abū Hanīfa said that he should not face the burial chamber when greeting him, just as, by their unanimous agreement, he should not face it when supplicating.

There are then two opinions within his school: