Imam-i Birghiwi (rahmatullahi 'alaih) says in his book Atfal-ul muslimin that it is sunnat to visit Muslims' graves. It is written in Ihya-ul 'Ulum, "It is mustahab to visit graves for remembering death and for taking warning from the dead and getting baraka from the graves of pious Muslims and Walis." To take a warning you imagine how the corpse rots, how its cheeks and lips fall down, how filthy water flows from its mouth, how its abdomen swells and bursts, how worms and insects swarm into it. Hatim-i Asam says, "If a person going by a cemetery does not think of them (the deceased) and pray for them, he has been treacherous to himself and to them." Men have been commanded to visit graves. Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) has censured women who visit graves. Some (savants) say that he has given them permission later. And some (savants) say that it is makruh. It has been unanimously declared (by savants) that it is not permissible for women to carry the janaza. Fatima (radiallahu 'anha) visited Hadrat Hamza's grave, and trimmed and mended it every year. A hadith ash-Sharif declares, "If a person visits the graves of his parents or the grave of one of his parents every Friday, his sins will be pardoned, and he will have paid their rights." Muhammad bin Wasi' visited graves every Friday. When it was suggested to him to visit them on Mondays, he said, "The deceased recognize those who visit them on Fridays, Thursdays and Saturdays." Dahhak says, "The deceased recognizes the person who visits his grave before sunrise on Saturday. This shows the virtue of Friday." Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) visited the graves of his Muslim relatives and of his Sahaba. A hadith ash-Sharif declares, "If a person says the following prayer as he visits the grave of a believer, that deceased person will be relieved from torment till the Rising Day: : Allahumma inni as'aluka bi-hurmati Muhammad 'alaihis-salam' an la-tu'azziba hazal- mayyit." It is written in Shir'a, "For visiting a grave as prescribed by the sunnat, you make an ablution, perform two rakats of namaz and send its thawab to the soul of the deceased person. When you arrive at the cemetery you say, 'Wa 'alaikum salam.' While saying the prayer transliterated above you sit against the deceased person's face. You recite the Surat- al Yasin-i Sharif or other suras that you know. You say tasbihs and pray for the deceased person." Abul Qasim says, "When you read (or recite) suras from the Qur'an near the grave, the deceased person hears your voice and becomes relieved." A hadith ash-Sharif declares, "If a person makes salam as he goes by the grave of someone he knows, the mayyit (deceased person) recognizes him and acknowledges his salam." For this reason, when going by a grave, Abdullah ibn 'Umar (radiallahu 'anh) would stop and give salam. Nafi' says, "Abdullah ibn 'Umar used to come to the grave of Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) and say: Assalamu alannabiyy, assalamu Abi Bakr, assalamu ala Abi. I saw him say so more than a hundred times." Al imam-al-Ghazali (rahmatullahi 'alaih) says in his book Ihya, "When visiting a grave, it is mustahab to make salam, 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 his feet with your back towards the qibla (Ibni Abidin). A hadith ash-Sharif declares, "If a person going by a cemetery says the surat-al Ikhlas eleven times and presents the thawab to the deceased, he will be given as many thawabs as the number of the deceased." Ahmad bin Hanbal 'rahmat-ullahi ta'ala 'alaih' says, "When you go to a cemetery say the sura of Fatiha, the two suras beginning with Qul'a'udhu, and the sura of ikhlas! Send the thawab to the deceased. The thawab will reach all of them."

There are three groups of worships. Worships in the first group of worships are done with property only. Such are zakat and alms. The second of worships group are done both with property and with the body. Such are hajj and jihad. Worships in the third group are done with body alone. In this group are reading Qur'an al-karim, performing namaz, saying tasbih, tahlil and tahmid, and praying. It has been declared unanimously by the savants of Ahl-as sunnat that it is permissible to present the thawab for the first group to the deceased and that the thawab 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 other than praying. In the Madhhabs of Hanafi and Hanbali the third group are like the first group. Hasan (radiallahu 'anh) says, "If you say the prayer, 'Allahumma Rabb-al-ajsad-ilba liyah wel'izamin-nahirat-illati harajat min-ad-dunya wa hiya bika Muminatun. Ad-hil-alaiha rawhan min 'indika wa salaman minni,' when you enter the cemetery, you will be given as many thawabs as the number of the deceased there." Here we end our translation from the booklet Atfal-ul muslimin. Imam-i Shafi'i and Maliki (rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaihima) said that the thawab for the worships done with the body is not given to the deceased ones. But later Shafi'i savants said that if it is made by the deceased person's grave and gifted, or if you make it (read Qur'an al-karim, say a prayer, etc.) at a distance and then "O my Rab, please make equal amount of thawab reach (the deceased)," it will reach the deceased.

A hadith ash-Sharif, which is written in the explanation of Shir'at-ul Islam, states, "The most valuable worship to be done by my Umma is to read Qur'an al-karim by looking at the Book." And it is written in Kitab-ut tibyan, "The best recitation of the Qur'an al-karim is the one done in salat." [A hadith, which exists in the ninety-third letter of the third volume of Maktubat by Hadrat Muhammad Mathum (rahmatullahi 'alaih), declares, "Recitation of the Qur'an done in salat is more useful than that which is done outside of salat." This hadith ash-Sharif is written in Hazinat-ul asrar together with its documentaries]. Hadrat Ali (radiallahu 'anh) stated, "A hundred thawabs are given for each letter of the recitation of the Qur'an done when standing in the salat. When it is recited (or read) with an ablution outside the salat twenty-five thawabs are given for each letter. When it is recited without an ablution ten thawabs are given. And fewer thawabs are given if it is recited when walking or doing some work." Reading one ayat and thinking of its meaning produces much more thawab than reading the whole Qur'an and thinking about something else. It is a very ugly bidat to read the Qur'an melodiously, which has become customary among the hafizes recently; it is very sinful. You must read the Qur'an with a mellifluous and sorrowful voice and with fear of Allah. It is written in the Fatwa of Bazaziyya, "A person who reads the Qur'an al-karim melodiously like singing will not be given any thawab." It is wajib to say the A'udhu when beginning to read (or recite) a sura or an ayat. And when beginning to read the Fatiha it is wajib also to say the Basmala. It is sunnat to say the Basmala when beginning other ayats. A hadith ash-Sharif declares, "When you read the Qur'an al-karim following the rules of tajwid, you will be given twenty thawabs for each letter. You will be given ten thawabs if you do not follow the rules of tajwid." It is one of the gravest sins to forget an ayat after having memorized it. A hadith declares, "Nurs (haloes) rise up to the Arsh from a house where Qur'an al-karim is read." Abu Huraira (radiallahu 'anh) said, "Baraka and goodness come to a house where Qur'an al-karim is read; angels come together there; devils flee from there." It produces plenty of thawab to listen to Qur'an al- karim read. A hadith ash-Sharif declares, "An ayat one listens to will be a nur (light) for one on the Day of Rising." Reading the Qur'an must not be made a means of living. A hadith ash-Sharif declares, "When reading the Qur'an, wish for Allah's love and for Paradise! Do not wish for what is worldly! Such a time will come when hafizes make the Qur'an a means for approaching people."

It is written in the book Shir'a, "It is mustahab to do a khatm of the Qur'an al-karim, that is, to read the whole of it, in forty days. It is not permissible to do a khatm in less than three days. The prayer done at the end of a khatm is acceptable. You must try to attend (places where) prayers of khatm are done. When the khatm is over, you must read the Fatiha with the intention to begin a khatm again. A hadith ash-Sharif declares, "The best of mankind is one who begins a new khatm when one khatm is over." The book Kadihan, in its chapter dealing with qira'at while performing salat, says that there are some savants who said that it would be makruh to do the prayers of khatm in jamaat. But the later scholars said that it would be better. They should not be prevented."

A hadith ash-Sharif, which exists in the book Tanbih-ul ghafilin, declares, "Even if the (dead) parents of the person reading Qur'an al-karim are disbelievers, their torment is lessened." A tradition (conveyed by savants) declares, "The number of the grades in Paradise is the same as the number of the ayats (verses) in Qur'an al-karim. A person who does a khatm of Qur'an al-karim will attain to all those grades." A hadith ash-Sharif, which exists in Kunuz-ud daqaiq and which is transmitted by Tabarani and Ibn Hibban, declares, "The prayer of a person who does a khatm of Qur'an al-karim is acceptable." It is written in Kitab-ut tibyan, "Rahma (Allah's mercy and compassion) rains on a place where the khatm of Qur'an al-karim is performed. It is mustahab to pray after a khatm. It is mustahab to assemble when doing khatm of Qur'an al-karim. Hadrat Abdullah ibn Abbas would have one of his men keep company with the person doing a khatm. And he himself would join them when the khatm was finished. Hadrat Anas bin Malik would gather his household together and pray whenever he did a khatm. It is mustahab to begin another khatm when one khatm is over. A hadith ash-Sharif declares, "The best of worships is to begin a new khatm when one khatm is over." Hadiths, which exist in Hazinat-ul asrar, declare, "Sixty thousand angels pray for a person who does a khatm of Qur'an al-karim," and, "A person who attends a place where they are doing the prayer of khatm is like a person who is present while the Ghanima is being divided and distributed. A person who is present at the place where they begin a khatm is like one who makes jihad. A person who attends both attains the thawabs for both and thus thwarts the Shaitan." Sad ibn Abi Waqqas said, "If a person reads (a passage from Qur'an al-karim) for a khatm during the day, angels pray for him till evening. If he does so at night, they pray for him till morning."

A hadith ash-Sharif, which exists in Kunuz-ud daqaiq and which is transmitted by Dailami, declares, "A person who reads Qur'an al-karim following the rules of tajwid is given the thawab of a martyr."

As it is seen, there is an additional thawab for reading each of its ayats. The thawab given to a person who does a khatm of the whole Qur'an is much greater. Since such worships as performing namaz, fasting, reading Qur'an al-karim and doing dhikr are done only with the body, everyone has to do them himself. It is not permissible to appoint a deputy and have him do them (on your behalf). For this reason, it is written in Bahjat-ul fatawa, "If a person begins with the Fatiha and reads Qur'an al-karim up to the Surat-al Fil or the Surat-al Ikhlas and then advises someone to read the remaining few suras on his behalf, and if the latter reads them, the former person, who has read Qur'an al-karim from the beginning, has not done a Khatm. People who have listened to either one of them have not listened to a khatm. And none of them attains the thawab of a khatm." If those who have read (the parts allotted to them) present the thawab separately to the souls of the deceased, or if one of them presents the thawabs for all of them, that is, if he does the prayer of khatm and if those who have read say Amin, the thawabs of all the ayats read will be given to the deceased, too. But they will not attain the thawab promised for a khatm. One khatm must be read by one person only, and the thawab must be presented by him. It will be permissible and very useful if various people do a khatm of Qur'an al-karim for a deceased person each of them reading one section (juz) silently and sending the thawab for the section he has read to the deceased person's soul or one of them presenting the thawab for all of them to the deceased person, that is, (one of them) doing the prayer of khatm and the others who have read their sections saying, "Amin." But this will not cause the thawab for khatm. One person must read the khatm or one person must send the thawab for the khatm he has done before. So is the case with reading an ayat of sajda. It is written in Durr-ul muhktar, "If each of several people reads one word of an ayat of sajda, it will not be necessary for those who hear them to perform the sajda of tilawat. For, when one person reads an ayat of sajda it becomes wajib for those who hear him to perform the sajda of tilawat." Words read by various people cannot be brought together as if one person had read the whole ayat. For, no one can deputize someone else to read Qur'an al-karim.

It is written in Khulasat-ul fatawa, "The Iraqi savants found it unsuitable to read the surat-ul Ikhlas thrice at the end of the khatm of Qur'an al-karim."

Ibn Abidin says, "The deceased recognize those who visit their graves on Fridays. Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) used to visit the martyrs on the mount of Uhud and say the prayer, 'Es-salamu 'alaikum bi-ma sabartum fa-ni'ma 'uqba-d-dar.' The hajjis (Muslim pilgrims) should visit that place early Thursday morning and then perform the noon prayer in Masjid an-Nabi. Hence, it is inferred that it is mandub to visit graves in far- away places. It is for this reason that the Awliya, such as Khalil-ur rahman, Sayyid Ahmad Badawi, are being visited. Imam-i Ghazali quotes a hadith ash-Sharif that states, 'Except for three masjids, you do not go to masjids to visit them.' For, in virtue other masjids are similar to one another. But in closeness to Allahu ta'ala the Awliya are unlike one another. Those who visit them get different benefits from each of them. It is written in the fatwas of Ibn Hajar that you should not cease from doing the qurbats even if there are sinners (at such meetings) and that if you see people committing bidat you should stop them. So is the case with attending funerals." Hafiz Ahmad ibn Taymiyya says that only things permitted by the Sharia, such as salawat and the prayer of adhan, can be said for the soul of our Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam), and that Qur'an al-karim cannot be read; but it is written in the book Fatawa-i fiqhiyya that permission is not necessary for presenting thawab. In fact, after the death of our Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) Abdullah ibn 'Umar 'radi- Allahu anhuma' performed 'umra for him, though he had not requested it in his last will. Likewise, Ibnul-Muwaffiq performed hajj seventy times for Junaid-i Baghdadi. Ibni Serraj performed a khatm more than ten thousand times and performed Qurban for our Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam). It is written in Fatawa-i hadisiyya that presents sent by his Umma (Muslims) will cause Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) to get promoted. In fact, he (the Prophet) used to pray, "O my Allah, increase my knowledge!"

When visiting a grave, it is makruh to sit or sleep on graves. If you guess that the path going through a cemetery has been made on graves afterwards, you do not walk on that path. When you are going to read the Qur'an to a grave, it is not makruh to tread or sit on the old graves around it. But you should still not sit on new graves.

Also, it is makruh to pluck the green weeds or to break the green twigs in a cemetery. It is permissible to pluck the dry grass. It is useful to the deceased and very good to plant flowers and trees on graves. But a better deed to be performed with this money is to give it as alms to a poor person who performs namaz.

It is stated in the book Fatawa-i Hindiyya, in the eleventh chapter of the part explaining Karahiyat that "if the tree in a cemetery had been grown before the cemetery was built, it will remain the landowner's property, and he can give the tree and its fruit to anyone he chooses. If a previous private landowner doesn't exist, and this land was allocated as a public cemetery, the trees, fruits, and land are used according to the established customs. If the trees grew up after the cemetery was built, they become the property of the one who sowed them, and he gives the tree and the fruits to the poor as alms. If the trees grew up by themselves (i.e. the one who sowed them is not known) they are distributed by a judge's decision. The judge can order them to be sold and the money received can be spent for the needs of the cemetery, if he decides so. Be it in a city or in a village, it is permissible to pick up and eat fruits that are unlikely to spoil (such as walnuts) and which have dropped from the trees onto the street only if it is known that the owner has given (a general) permission. If the fruits are likely to spoil, and if the owner's prohibition is not known, it is permissible to pick them up and eat them. But it is not permissible to pick them up and take them home. It is permissible to pick up the fruits or pieces of wood that have been carried by the river. Walnuts picked up from various parts of the street will be halal even if they reach a marketable amount. If one finds all the walnuts at a certain place, they are considered lukata (unowned property). Trees and fruits on the grounds of a pious foundation's cemetery should be used in accordance with the conditions prescribed by the foundation's deed. If the provisions are not known, the distribution is made according to a judge's decision. There is more information in the books Hindiyya and Qadihan, at the final parts of the chapters dealing with lukata and waqf.

It is mustahab to bury the deceased person during the day, and it is permissible as well to bury him at night.

It is haram to break his bones, to leave them in the open or to burn them. It hurts a dead as it would hurt him when he was alive. It is not permissible to break or burn the bones of zimmis, of non Muslim countrymen. Since it is haram to hurt them when they are alive, it is not permissible to hurt them when they are dead. It is permissible to open the graves of the ahl-i harb. Yet it is still not permissible to burn their corpses. Disbelievers called Hindus in India hurl the corpses of their dead into the river named Ganges. The corpses are broken into pieces and eaten by crocodiles. Since this practice causes noxious scents, which in turn spread pestilences such as cholera, (they have developed a new method:) they are cremating the corpses in their temples and throwing the ashes into the river. Abdul Aziz Dahlawi (rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih) says in the interpretation of the Sura Abasa that Allahu ta'ala commanded us to bury corpses in soil. Indian disbelievers burn their dead. If the corpse is burned, the body disappears. The link between the body and the soul ceases to exist. If the corpse is buried, the soul remains connected with the body and the grave into which the body is put. The souls of the people who visit a grave get acquainted with the soul of the deceased person, and they benefit from each other. The thawabs for the ayats and prayers that are recited and the alms that are given reach the soul easily. In this way it will be easy for the people who are alive to benefit from the souls of Awliya and salih (pious) Muslims." This topic is expatiated on in the next chapter.

It is permissible to weep for the deceased person. But crying loudly will torment the deceased person.

There are savants who say that it is permissible to inscribe religious statements, principles of iman, prayers, suras or to put a piece of paper or something else with such inscriptions on it on the deceased person's head or shroud; but it is not permissible on account of the possibility that they may be smeared with the deceased person's blood or pus. There is no report stating that such inscriptions were written during the time of our Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam). As it is not permissible to inscribe the Qur'an or the names of Allahu ta'ala on bills or coins, on the mihrab or walls of a mosque, or on carpets on the floor, so it is certainly not permissible to put them in a grave. For, it would be worse sacrilege to put them there. Instead of writing with a pen, it is permissible to imitate the act of writing the Kalima-i Tawhid and the Basmala with your finger on the deceased person's forehead and chest after the washing.