Many times at such occasions innocent blood is shed and many...

Many times at such occasions innocent blood is shed and many persons’ honour and prestige got damaged. The root cause of their belief is that kissing and honouring the shrine amounts to worshipping the one in grave, as if ‘every respect is worship.’ Since these helpless people who are far from the reality of Islamic teachings are unable to interpret 'ibada (worship) in the logical sense, they have become puzzled and confused and take every type of respect to the dead to be an 'ibada .

In the next chapter, we shall draw a precise limit and boundary for 'ibada , but what is important now is to know what was the practice of the Muslims in this matter: (1) After the Holy prophet's burial, his daughter Fatima (‘a) stood near his grave and then taking some soil from the grave she put it over her face.

She later cried and recited these two poems: ماذا على من شَّم تُربة احمدا أن لا يشُم مدى الزمان غواليا صُبَّت علىَّ مصائب لو أنها صُبت على الأيام صرن لياليا “What happens to the one who smells the soil of grave of Ahmad, who till he is alive, shall smell no more the expensive musks.” صُبَّت علىَّ مصائب لو أنها صُبت على الأيام صرن لياليا “I was faced with such calamities that if it had befallen on the bright day it would have changed to night.” [^7] (2) The great companion Bilal who left Medina for some reason and settled by order of the frontier guards, in the districts of Syria saw in his dream that the Holy Prophet (s) was saying: “What kind of injustice is this, O Bilal?

Has not the time come that you visit us!? He woke up from his sleep in sadness and sat on his horse and left for Medina. When he reached the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) he started to cry and rubbed his face over it. Later he saw al-Hasan and al-Husayn and kissed both of them.[^8] (3) Amir al-mu'minin 'Ali ('a) says: “Three days had lapsed from the burial of the Holy Prophet (s) when a Bedouin Arab came and threw himself over the grave of the Holy Prophet (s).

He sprinkled the soil of his grave over his head and started to converse with the Holy Prophet (s). He said: ‘O Prophet of Allah, you spoke and we listened. You received the truth from Allah and we too received it from you. From the things which Allah revealed to you is this: ولو أنهم إذ ظلموا أنفسهم I have done injustice upon myself. So seek forgiveness for me from Allah.

Suddenly he heard a voice saying: Your sins have been forgiven.” This incident has been narrated by most of the historians mainly al-Samhudi in Wafa' al-wafa' , vol.