Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Fifth Fascicle

prayer transliterated above you sit against the deceased person’s
face. You recite the Sûrat-al Yasîn-i sherîf or other sûras that you
know. You say tasbîhs and pray for the deceased person.” Abul
Qâsim [1] says: “When you read (or recite) sûras from the Qur’ân
al-kerîm near the grave, the deceased person hears your voice and
relaxes.” A hadîth-i sherîf declares: “If a person makes salâm as
he goes by the grave of someone he knows, the mayyit (deceased
person) recognizes him and acknowledges his salâm.” For this
reason, when going by a grave, Abdullah ibn ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu
’anh’ would stop and make salâm. Nâfi’ says: “Abdullah ibn
’Umar used to come to the grave of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sallam’ and say: Assalâmu ’alannabiyy, assalâmu ’alâ’ Abî
Bakr, assalâmu ’alâ Abî. I saw him say so more than a hundred
times.” Al imâm-al-Ghazâlî ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ says in his book
Ihyâ: “When visiting a grave, it is mustahab to make salâm, to
leave the qibla behind you and sit against the mayyit’s face. You
do not touch the grave with your hands or face or kiss the grave.”
The best way is to stand by its feet with your back towards the
qibla (Ibni ’Âbidîn). A hadîth-i sherîf declares: “If a person going
by a cemetery says the sûrat-al Ikhlâs eleven times and presents
the thawâb to the deceased, he will be given as many thawâbs as
the number of the deceased.” Ahmad bin Hanbal ‘rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’alaih’ says: “When you go to a cemetery say the sûra of
Fâtihâ, the two sûras beginning with Qul’a’ûdhu, and the sûra of
Ikhlâs! Send the thawâb to the deceased. The thawâb will reach
all of them.”
There are three groups of acts of worship. Acts of worship in
the first group involve property only. Such are zakât and alms. The
second group involve both property and body. Such are hajj and
jihâd. Worships in the third group involve body alone. In this
group are reading (or reciting) the Qur’ân al-kerîm, performing
namâz, saying tesbîh, tehlîl and tahmîd, and saying prayers. It has
been declared unanimously by the savants of Ahl-as sunna that it
is permissible to present the thawâb for the first group to the
deceased and that the thawâb will reach them and will be useful for
them. So is the case with praying, which is in the third group. That
the case is so with the second group has been argued by most
savants. There has been disagreement among the four Madhhabs
about those of the third group with the exception of saying
prayers. In the Madhhabs of Hanafî and Hanbalî the third group
[1] Abul Qâsim ’Abd-ul-Kerîm Qushairî, (d. 465).
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