. According to The Majlis, the Qabrustaan should be in a forlorn state as the mercy of Allah Ta’ala descends on forlorn, dilapidated graves. However, it is mentioned in the Hadith that Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) planted a branch on a grave. How is the view of The Majlis  reconciled with this Hadith?

A. Placing a solitary  twig/branch on a grave is not making the Qabrustan a park. The forlornness of the Qabrustaan is not eliminated by one small twig/branch placed on a grave. We said that the Qabrustaan  “should not be like  a park”. If someone puts a branch (not planting trees and flowers) on a grave, the entire Qabrustaan will not become  a park. But if flowers are  put on the graves, walls are built, tombstones are placed and the place  maintained like a garden, then obviously it  will become like a park, kuffaar-style as are their graveyards.

   Furthermore,  despite Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) placing the twig on a grave, it never  became a Sunnah among the Sahaabah. Perhaps one or two Sahaabah  emulated it. But it never became a practice with either Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) or the Sahaabah. Why did Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam)  place a twig on a grave only once in his lifetime, and why did the vast  majority, in fact 99%, of the Sahaabah not  follow this  one-time amal of Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam)? Did they not understand the amal of our Nabi (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam)? 

   Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam)  fixed the twig/branch in a particular grave because it was revealed to him that the inmate  was  suffering severe punishment.  Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam)  neither placed twigs on other graves nor ordered the Sahaabah to do so, hence this one-time amal never became an established Sunnah. Thus, there is absolutely no basis  in the twig/branch Hadith  for the kuffaar practice of converting a graveyard into a park.

    That  Allah’s mercy settles on forlorn graves is borne out by the episode of Nabi Isaa (Alahyis salaam). Therefore, those who are truly concerned  of the welfare of their buried relatives should not resort to kuffaar practices and stupidly seek to justify  their aberrations with Hadith narrations which have absolutely no relevance to the issue.

THE MAJLIS VOL 26 NO 08