One important benefit contained in this ḥadith—one that the majority of the fiqh manuals have overlooked—is the permissibility of giving the unbeliever the “good news” of the Fire when one passes by his grave. The purpose of this ruling is obvious: to alert the believer and remind him of the enormity of that unbeliever’s crime. He has committed a sin so colossal that every sin committed in this world, even taken together, is trivial in comparison: disbelief in Allah and associating partners with Him. Allah, exalted is He, made His intense loathing of this sin unmistakable when He excluded it from forgiveness, declaring, “Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be ascribed to Him, but He forgives anything less than that for whomever He wills” (Q 4:48). For this reason the Prophet ﷺ said, “The greatest of the major sins is to set up a rival to Allah while He is the One who created you” (agreed upon).

Ignorance of this benefit has led some Muslims to act in ways diametrically opposed to what the wise Lawgiver intended. Many Muslims travel to non-Muslim lands for personal or public affairs, and go on to visit the graves of those they call the “great men” among the unbelievers. They lay flowers and wreaths upon the graves and stand before them in humble sorrow, behavior that conveys satisfaction with those people and a lack of abhorrence toward them. Yet the prophets, peace be upon them, set the opposite precedent, as this sound ḥadith makes plain. Listen as well to Allah’s words: “There has already been for you an excellent example in Abraham and those with him when they said to their people, ‘We are free of you and of whatever you worship besides Allah. We reject you, and between us and you hostility and hatred have appeared, and will continue forever…’” (Q 60:4).