Q242 :According to some Hadiths, it is renetmended
to greet the dead when one visits or passes by a graveyard. At the same
time, Allah states in the Qur’an that those who are in their graves
cannot hear. Please explain.
A242 : The Qur’anic verse which you have referred
to is correct. It tells the Prophet : “You certainly cannot make those
who are in the graves hear you.” (35;22) This is a statement of fact
which tells us that those who are dead cannot hear what we say; whether
we address them directly or we are talking to each other. At the same
time, we are renetmended to offer a greeting to the dwellers of a
graveyard who are actually dead. When we enter a graveyard or pass it
by, we are renetmended to say: “You believers, the dwellers of this
place, peace be to you. You are gone ahead of us and we shall certainly
join you, Allah willing. I pray to grant both you and us security and
peace.” If you examine this Hadith carefully, you are bound to nete to
the conclusion that it is meant as a reminder to ourselves. First of
all, we state that those dwellers in the grave were believers and this
means that even the most pious of believers will certainly die. We then
state that we shall join them because Allah has made it inevitable that
every human being dies. This is followed by a prayer of peace and
security to those who are gone and to ourselves. In practical terms,
this is a reminder to ourselves to work hard in obedience to Allah
before we are overtaken by death. A Muslim should always remember death
because it is a warning. The Prophet says that Allah has given us two
warnings: the Qur’an and death. The fact that we use this form of
reminding ourselves of the Day of Judgment does not mean that the dead
will hear us. They certainly do not since Allah states this in the
Qur’an. Allah, however, may pass on to them what we have said so that
their souls, wherever they are, may reply to our greeting.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )