FATWA OF FORTY-FIVE SCHOLARS OF MECCA,
MADINA, EGYPT, SYRIA, AND INDIA
ON THE PRAISEWORTHINESS OF
TRAVELLING TO VISIT THE PROPHET
A century ago eleven major scholars of Ahl al-Sunna in India issued a fatwa on the lawfulness of
travelling with the explicit intention of visiting the Prophet in response to the question:
What do you say concerning travelling to visit the leader of creation, blessings and peace
upon him and upon his Family and Companions? Which do you prefer for the traveller
at the time of undertaking travel: to intend to visit the Prophet, or to intend also to visit
the mosque? For someone said: One traveling to Madina must not intend other than the
Mosque of the Prophet.
The reply was reproduced in full in the book al-Mufannad al-muhannad, and Shaykh
Muhammad ibn `Alawi al-Maliki again reproduced it recently in his book Shifa' al-fu'ad bi ziyarat
khayr al-`ibad (p. 83-88). This fatwa was subsequently approved and co-signed by scholars of Mecca,
Madina, Egypt, and Syria. Below is a list of these scholars, followed by excerpts from the fatwa:
Scholars from India
- `Allama muhaddith Rashid Ahmad al-Gangohi (d. 1905 CE)
- `Allama muhaddith Khalil Ahmad al-Saharanfuri (d. 1927 CE)
- `Allama muhaddith Shaykh Mahmud al-Hasan al-Deobandi
- `Allama shaykh Mir Ahmad Hasan al-Husayni
- `Allama muhaddith shaykh `Aziz al-Rahman al-Deobandi
- `Allama murshid shaykh `Ali Ashraf al-Tahanawi
- `Allama shaykh Shah `Abd al-Rahim al-Ranfuri
- Shaykh al-Hajj al-Hakim Muhammad Hasan al-Deobandi
- Mawlawi Qudrat Allah
- Mawlawi mufti Kifayat Allah
- `Allama shaykh Muhammad Yahya Saharanfuri
Scholars from Mecca
- Shaykh Muhammad Sa`id ibn Muhammad al-Shafi`i the chief of the scholars of Mecca and the imam
and khatib at the Masjid al-haram
- Shaykh Ahmad Rashid Khan Nawab
- Shaykh Muhammad `Abid ibn Husayn al-Maliki
- Shaykh Muhammad `Ali ibn Husayn al-Maliki
Scholars from Madina
- al-Faqih al-Sayyid Ahmad ibn Isma`il al-Barzanji (d. 1919 CE)
- al-Shaykh Ahmad al-Jaza'iri al-Maliki
- al-Sayyid Muhammad Zaki al-Barzanji
- al-Muhaddith al-Shaykh `Umar Hamdan al-Mahrisi
- al-Sharif Ahmad ibn al-Ma'mun al-Balghith
- al-Shaykh Musa Kazim
- al-Shaykh Mulla Muhammad Khan
- al-Shaykh Khalil ibn Ibrahim
- a-Shaykh Muhammad al-`Aziz al-Wazir al-Tunisi
- al-Shaykh Muhammad al-Susi al-Khayari
- al-Hajj Ahmad ibn Muhammad Khayr al-Shanqiti
- al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Umar al-Fulani
- al-Shaykh Ahmad ibn Ahmad Sa`d
- al-Shaykh Muhammad Mansur ibn Nu`man
- al-Shaykh Ahmad Bisati
- al-Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Sindi
- al-Shaykh Mahmud `Abd al-Jawad
Scholars from al-Azhar
- Shaykh al-Azhar al-shaykh Salim al-Bashri
- Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim al-Qayati
Scholars from Syria
- al-Faqih al-muhaddith Muhammad Abu al-Khayr Ibn `Abidin al-Husayni
- al-Shaykh Mustafa ibn Ahmad al-Shatti al-Hanbali (d. 1929)
- al-Shaykh Mahmud Rashid al-`Attar al-Dimashqi
- al-Shaykh Muhammad al-Bushi al-Hamawi
- al-Shaykh Muhammad Sa`id al-Hamawi
- al-Shaykh `Ali ibn Muhammad al-Dallal al-Hamawi
- al-Shaykh Muhammad Adib al-Hurani
- al-Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al-Lababidi
- al-Shaykh Muhammad Sa`id Lutfi al-Hanafi
- al-Shaykh Faris ibn Ahmad al-Shaqfa
- al-Shaykh Mustafa al-Haddad al-Hamawi
TEXT OF THE FATWA
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim....
FIRST let it be known, before we state our answer, that by Allah's grace we, all our shaykhs -- may
Allah be pleased with them, -- and the totality of our assembly are, in the branches of the religion,
strict imitators (muqallidun) of the guide of mankind and the apex of Muslim scholars, the greatest
Imam, Abu Hanifa al-Nu`man; and, in beliefs and principles of the faith, strict followers (muttabi`un)
of the principal Imams Abu al-Hasan al-Ash`ari and Abu Mansur al-Maturidi, may Allah be well
pleased with them; and that we are strict adherents (muntasibun) to the following Sufi ways: the most
distinguished way of the Naqshbandi masters, the most pure way of the Shishti masters, and the most
radiant way of the Suhrawardi masters.
SECOND let it be known, that we do not here speak one word nor utter one syllable concerning the
Religion except that we stand upon authority for it with our proof from the Qur'an or Sunna, or the
consensus of the Umma, or the saying of one of the major scholars of the madhhab. Nevertheless, we
do not say that we are exempt from error and forgetfulness in writing and speaking, therefore, if it
becomes apparent to us that we erred in something, whether in the principles or in the branches, then
we are not ashamed to take it back and proclaim that we do so. How could it not be so when our own
Imams took back many of their positions, such as the most honorable Imam of Allah's Sanctuary, our
Imam, al-Shafi`i, may Allah be well pleased with him, until there was little left except he had a new
position concerning it? The Companions themselves took back some of their positions in the light of
each other's opinions, as is known to those who pursue the sciences of hadith. Therefore, if one of our
contemporary scholars asserts that we erred in some ruling, then if concerns the principles let him
produce his evidence in the light of one of the Imams of theology (kalam), and if it concerns the
branches, then let him bring forth his evidence from the most conclusive position of one of the Imams
of the madhhab. If he so does, then nothing more is left for us except rightful acceptance with the
heart and the tongue, and added to that, sincere gratitude....
IN REPLY TO THE QUESTION: According to us and our shaykhs, the visit to the grave of the
master of Messengers -- may my life be sacrificed for him -- is among the greatest of the acts that
draw near to Allah and those who earn the most reward and those most efficacious in obtaining a high
rank. In fact, it is close to being a required act. This holds true even if its fulfillment comes by way of
travelling and expenditure, and even if one forms the intention, at the time of departure, to visit the
Prophet -- upon him a thousand thousand salutations -- and along with that intention he intends to visit
his masjid and other blessed spots and noble graves.
Moreover, the most appropriate for him is as the great savant Ibn al-Huham said: let him
devote his intention solely to the visit of his grave, then he will obtain the visit of his masjid at the
time he arrives there, for in so doing he will show additional reverence and honor to him. This is
according to the narration: "Whoever comes to me as a visitor driven by no other need but my visit, it
1[46]
is incumbent upon me to be his intercessor on the Day of Resurrection." Hence it is reported from
the noble knower of Allah al-Mulla [`Abd al-Rahman] Jami that he set apart the Visit from the
Pilgrimage, and that is more in keeping with the madhhab of those who love the Prophet.
As for what the objectors say whereby the traveller to Madina -- upon its dweller a thousand
thousand salutations -- must not intend other than to visit the noble masjid, on the basis of the hadith
"Mounts are not to be saddled except to go to three masjids," then this is rejected because the hadith
does not indicate an absolute prohibition! Rather, if one endowed with understanding and learning
considers it carefully one sees a proof in the text for permissibility. The factor by which the three
mosques are excepted from the commonality of mosques or other places, is the special merit that is
attached to them: and that special merit is present in the noble spot of the grave, for that noble spot
and enlightened expanse of space which contains his limbs -- blessings and peace upon him -- is
absolutely more meritorious even than the Ka`ba, the Throne, and the kursi, as explicitly
declared by our fuqaha'. And since the three mosques have been singled out for their special merit,
then it is definitely the case that the blessed spot of his grave be singled out even more.
The sun of the pious scholars, our shaykh, Mawlana Rashid Ahmad al-Gangohi has
expounded upon this matter in the same terms that we used, or even more explicitly, in his treatise
Zubdat al-manasik fi fadl ziyarat al-madina al-munawwara, which has been printed several times.
Also relevant to this noble issue is the treatise of the shaykh of our shaykhs, Mawlana Sadr al-Din alDihlawi -- may Allah sanctify his precious secret -- in his treatise Ahsan al-maqal fi hadith la tushadd
al-rihal which came out in print and became well-known, and in which he unleashed disaster on the
heads of those who call themselves "salafiyya." Let the reader consult these works. And Allah knows
best.
[46]
Haytami said in Majma` al-zawa'id: "Tabarani narrates it in al-Kabir and al-Awsat from Ibn `Umar with a
chain containing Maslama ibn Salim and he is weak." al-`Iraqi said in al-Mughni `an haml al-asfar: "Ibn alSakan declared the hadith sound (sahih)."