Legitimacy of Visiting the Graves from the Perspective of Sunni scholars

Visiting the graves of the dead, has long been agreed by Shia and Sunni scholars and has benefits such as being a reminder of death and the Day of Judgment and self-purification. The Quran too has mentioned it in Surahs of Tawbah, Kahf and Nisa and numerous Shiite and Sunni commentators have interpreted the permission or recommendation to visit the shrines. Also general and specialized Hadith books are full of traditions that endorse this permission and recommendation. Sire of companions and followers also shows their interest in visiting the graves of prominent figures, the martyrs and other deceased ones. In the past century, however, some radical Islamic groups including Wahhabis and Salafists led by Ibn Taimiyah, by misinterpreting Qur’an verses and referring to antiquated traditions, have regarded the visiting graves of the deceased as Haraam and even consider the visitor as mahdur al-dam. This paper, by presenting Quranic verses and Nabawi traditions and explaining the lives of his Companions and followers, attemptsto prove the legitimacy and Istihbab of Visiting the graves of the deceased and in this respect, presents some of the traditions cited by Salafists and considers them obsolete. Ultimately, it regards the behavior of Ibn Taimiyah and his followers as heresy.