It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I had forbidden you from visiting graves. Listen! Now visit them, for it softens the heart, brings tears to the eyes and reminds of the Hereafter; and do not say idle or indecent words (there)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I had forbidden you from visiting graves; now whoever wishes to visit a grave, let him visit it, for it makes the heart tender (soft), makes the eye shed tears and reminds of the Hereafter."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "Visit the graves, for by that the Hereafter is remembered; and wash the dead, for handling a lifeless body is a profound admonition; and offer the funeral prayers, perhaps that will make you sorrowful, for the sorrowful person is in the shade of Allah and seeks every good." All the narrators of this hadith are trustworthy!

Sayyiduna Ali bin al-Husayn narrates from his father (Sayyiduna al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), used to visit the grave of her uncle Sayyiduna Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with him) every Friday; she would pray there and weep. All the narrators of this hadith are trustworthy. I have made a thorough effort in encouraging the visiting of graves, so as to gain the reward of taking part in it, and so that one who is miserly about his religion may know that it is an established Sunnah. May Allah Almighty send blessings upon Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and all his family.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I was sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a funeral passed by. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Whose funeral is this?" The people said that it was the funeral of so-and-so; he loved Allah and His Messenger, did deeds of obedience to Allah and strove in them. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It has become due, it has become due, it has become due." Then another funeral passed by, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Whose is this?" The people said: It is so-and-so's; he hated Allah and His Messenger, did deeds of disobedience to Allah and strove in them. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It has become due, it has become due, it has become due." The people said: O Messenger of Allah, your statement about this funeral and its praise: the first was praised with good and the second with evil, yet you said for both: "It has become due, it has become due, it has become due"! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, O Abu Bakr! Allah has certain angels who speak on the tongues of the children of Adam about the good or evil of a person (that is in him)." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Muslim, but they did not record it with this wording.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whenever a Muslim dies and the people of four households of his nearest neighbours testify about him that they know nothing of him but good, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: 'I have accepted your statement - or He said: your testimony - and I have forgiven him what you do not know.'" This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Muslim, but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed by which, if I do it, I will enter Paradise. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Be a doer of good." He said: How will I know that I am a doer of good? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ask your neighbours. If they say that you are a doer of good, then you are a doer of good; and if they say that you are bad, then you are bad." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: It was said: O Messenger of Allah, who are the people of Paradise? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The one who does not die until his ears are filled with what he likes (that is, praise of him)." It was said: O Messenger of Allah, who are the people of the Fire? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The one who does not die until his ears are filled with what he dislikes (that is, criticism of him)." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Muslim, but they did not record it.

Umm al-Ala' (may Allah be pleased with her) - an Ansari woman who had given the pledge of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) - narrates that when the Ansar drew lots to host the Muhajirun, Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him) fell to our share, and we lodged him in our houses. Then he fell ill with the illness in which he passed away. When he died, was washed and was shrouded in his clothes, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came in. I said: "O Uthman bin Maz'un, may the mercy of Allah be upon you, O Abu al-Sa'ib; my testimony about you is that Allah has certainly honoured you." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "How do you know that Allah has honoured him?" I said: O Messenger of Allah, may my mother and father be ransomed for you, then who else would it be? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "As for him, certainty (death) has come to him. By Allah, I hope for good for him; but by Allah, even though I am the Messenger of Allah, I do not know what will be done with me." Umm al-Ala' said: "By Allah, after this I will never (definitively) declare anyone's purity." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it!

The son of Tawus (Abdullah) narrates from his father that he used to say certain words after the tashahhud to which he attached great importance. I asked: In both (tashahhuds)? He said: No, rather after the last tashahhud. I asked: What are they? He said: 'A'udhu billahi min adhabi jahannam, wa a'udhu billahi min sharri al-masih al-dajjal, wa a'udhu billahi min adhabi al-qabr, wa a'udhu billahi min fitnati al-mahya wa al-mamat' (I seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of Hell, and I seek refuge in Allah from the evil of the False Messiah (al-Dajjal), and I seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of the grave, and I seek refuge in Allah from the trial of life and death). He attached great importance to these words. Ibn Jurayj said: Abdullah bin Tawus told me this narration from his father, from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This hadith, concerning seeking refuge from the punishment of the grave, is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. In the Book of Faith (Kitab al-Iman) I dictated, in this chapter, the hadiths that were sahih on their condition but which they did not record; but I did not dictate this hadith there.