Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Fifth Fascicle

The pillar of the minbar must be in line with your right shoulder.
Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ would perform the
namâz there. Then you perform two more rak’ats of namâz of
gratitude. After saying your prayers you stand up and with adab
come near the Hujra-i-sa’âda. With your face toward the wall of
Muwâjaha-i-sa’âda and toward Rasûlullah’s blessed face and your
back toward the qibla you stand with adab, about two metres from
the blessed grave. You keep in your mind that Rasûlullah sees you,
hears your salâm and prayers, and answers you, saying âmîn.
Beginning with, “Essalâmu ’alaika yâ sayyidî, yâ Rasûlallah...,”
you say the long prayer in the (above-named) book. You say the
salâms sent (by others) through you. Then, first saying the salawât,
you say the prayers you choose. Then, moving one metre to your
right, you greet Hadrat Abû Bakr by saying the long prayer in the
book which begins as, “Essalâmu ’alaika yâ khalîfata Rasûlillah...”
Then, moving half a metre to your right you greet Hadrat ’Umar
by saying the long prayer in the book. Then you pray for yourself,
for your parents, for those who asked you to pray for them, and for
all Muslims. Then you move back and stand opposite Rasûlullah’s
blessed face. You say the prayer in the book and also other prayers
which you will choose. Then you come to the pillar to which hadrat
Abû Lubâba tied himself and made tawba (penance). Here, and in
the Rawda-i-mutahhara, you perform supererogatory or qadâ
salât. You make tawba and pray. At your own discretion, you
should also visit Masjîd-i-Kubâ, Masjîd-i-qiblatayn, the martyrs of
Uhud, the graves at Baqî, and many other well-known sacred
places.”
Ibni Qayyim says: “You say your prayers by turning your back
to Rasûlullah’s grave. Likewise states Abû Hanîfa.” It is written in
Durer-us-seniyya [1]
that “Alûsî, too, states so in his tafsîr.”
However, all the savants of Ahl-as sunna write that you say your
prayers by turning toward the blessed grave, the qibla wall being
behind you. Even Alûsî’s son, Nu’mân, who was a follower of Ibni
Teymiyya and Ibni Qayyim, was reasonable enough not to hide the
fact, and wrote in his Ghâliya: “After performing two rak’ats of
namâz in the Masjîd, you come to the Hujra-i-sa’âda, turn towards
his blessed face and, standing with adab as you would do if he were
alive, say salât and salâm and say the prayers prescribed by the
Sharî’a. For, Rasûlullah is alive in his grave too. Most savants say
[1] Written by Ahmad bin Sayyid Zeynî Dahlân ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’alaih’, (1231 [1816 A.D.], Mekka – 1304 [1886], Medîna.)
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