Graves, shrines and inscriptions

The grave is a place of remembrance and supplication for the dead, not a shrine: the Sunna fixed a sober treatment of burials, and contemporary Sunni scholars (Ibn Baz, the Standing Committee for Fatwas) drew from it the rule for today's mausoleums.

The prohibitions expressly reported

The Prophet forbade plastering graves, sitting on them and building over them.Muslim 970

• Plastering and adorning: the manuals of the schools derive from it the prohibition, or the firm dislike, of durable constructions and ornamentations on graves;
• sitting and treading: forbidden or disliked (Muslim 969);
• inscriptions: disliked according to the majority; the name written for identification (a headstone required by cemetery administrations): excused by necessity according to the scholars.

Mausoleums: the position of Sunni scholars

• The foundation: "may Allah curse the Jews and the Christians: they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship" (al-Bukhari 435);
• Ibn Baz (fatwa "warning against building mosques over graves", published on his official site): it is not permitted to build over graves, whether a mosque, a dome or anything else; this is among the great sins and among the paths leading to polytheism;
• the Standing Committee for Research and Fatwas (Fatawa al-Lajna ad-Da'ima, vol. 1): mosques must not be erected over graves, because of the reported prohibition and curse;
• the veneration of shrines (asking the dead, ex-votos, processions): condemned by Ibn Taymiyya (Majmu' al-Fatawa), Ibn Baz and Ibn Uthaymin: asking belongs to Allah alone; the respectful visit of a tomb with the greeting of peace and a supplication for the deceased remains lawful according to the majority as long as no request is addressed to the dead.

What is permitted

• Marking the grave: a stone or a small mound: the Prophet placed a stone at the grave of Uthman ibn Maz'un and said: "by it I shall know the grave of my brother, and I shall bury beside him" (Abu Dawud 3222);
• visiting the cemetery: recommended, with the greeting of peace and the supplication for the dead (see the page on visits);
• simple plaques required by law: lawful by necessity; sober upkeep of the cemetery: in keeping with decency, without ritual.

Practical note

In Western cemeteries: a simple headstone bearing the name, the greeting and a supplication at the visit, without construction or ritual: this is the Sunna, and its sobriety soothes mourning.