Of other examples of oppositions to ziyāra permissibility is that after the demise of the holy Prophet (PBUH&HP) he was buried in Aisha’s chamber and none of the companions, for almost a century, ever went to visit his grave, to the point that at time of Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, while in repairing the Prophet’s house, piles of miasmic garbage was accumulated there. But historical evidence show that contrary to this statement, ziyāra of the Prophet (PBUH&HP) was common, as Imam Hussain (PBUH) went for ziyāra of the grave of the Prophet (PBUH&HP) before leaving for Karbala.
In addition, there exist very serious doubts in regard to truthfulness of burying the Prophet (PBUH&HP) in Aisha’s chamber. Also presence of garbage by the grave of the Messenger of Allah was the result of Banu-Umayya actions from the rulership of Mo’awiya thenceforth in order to eradicate any trace and sign of the holy Prophet (PBUH&HP) and consequently to extirpate symbols of Islam.
Another issue set forth in regard to ziyāra is the issue of ladies going to ziyāra. Some, by citing certain Sunni narratives, maintain that it is haram. But even with assumption of documentation accuracy of these kinds of narratives, considering the fact that the proofs of ziyāra permissibility and the narratives about benefits of ziyāra include both men and women, these narratives can not be taken as the proof of hurmah. Moreover, as mentioned before, Hazrat Fatimah (PBUH) used to go to graves of Uhud martyrs and the grave of Hamzah. Aisha went for ziyāra of her brother ‘Abd al-Rahman too. It has also been narrated from Aisha that she said, one night she followed the Prophet (PBUH&HP) to the Baqi’ cemetery and that when the Prophet (PBUH&HP) realized her presence he did not disapprove rather he taught her the rules and manners of ziyāra. Therefore, we should either consider narratives which include prohibition for ziyāra for ladies as abrogated or consider the prohibition in such narratives as karahat or consider them for cases where ziyāra for ladies necessitates committing sins or acts of haram.
Source:
Pilgrimage “Ziyāra” from the Viewpoint of the Holy Quran, Hadiths and Theological Discourses-An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World Islam [p 24-25].
Author: Maryam Kiani Farid
Translated by Mojganeh Saffarnia.
