into a festival. Rather, invoke blessings upon me, for your blessings reach me wherever you may be.

The meaning is: do not treat the grave as a festival site that you honor by coming to it once or twice a year, or anything of that sort. This ḥadith also constitutes proof that it is forbidden to undertake a journey solely to visit the Prophet’s grave, ﷺ. If a person wishes to travel to Madinah, his intention should not be the journey for visiting the Messenger’s grave; he travels in order to pray in his mosque, for one prayer in that mosque is better than a thousand prayers elsewhere, the only exception being the Sacred Mosque in Mecca.

He then said, “And invoke blessings upon me, for your blessings reach me wherever you may be.” Whenever you send blessings upon the Messenger, ﷺ, your blessing reaches him no matter where you are—on land, at sea, in the air, whether near or far. The same applies to the second ḥadith: “No Muslim greets the Prophet, ﷺ, except that Allah returns his soul to him so that he may return the greeting.” Thus, when you greet the Prophet, ﷺ, Allah restores his soul to him and he responds to your greeting. The apparent sense is that this concerns someone who is physically near—such as one standing at his grave and saying, “Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.” It is, however, possible that the ruling is universal, and Allah is capable of all things.

The compiler then cites the ḥadith of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, and the ḥadith of Faḍālah ibn ʿUbayd. Both likewise encourage invoking blessings upon the Messenger, ﷺ. Concerning the ḥadith of Faḍālah ibn ʿUbayd, the apparent meaning is that it refers to the tashahhud: the man uttered the tashahhud but neither praised nor glorified Allah, nor did he invoke blessings upon the Prophet; rather, he went straight to supplication. Yet the tashahhud is known to begin with praising Allah in the words, “All greetings, prayers, and pure words are for Allah…”