|
Prohibition
of writing anything on a gravestone
*Please appropriately reference
this fatwa to: www.fatwa-online.com, thankyou!*
Question:
Is it permissible to write the name of the deceased or
an aayah from the Qur.aan on
a headstone by the grave ?
Response:
It is not permissible to write the name of the deceased on
a headstone or on anything else by the grave, since the Messenger
(sal-Allaahu
`alayhe wa sallam)
forbade that, even if it be an aayah from the Qur.aan, or
a single word, or even a single letter - this is (all) impermissible.
However,
if the grave is indicated with a sign other than writing,
so as to identify it for (future) visits and extending the
greeting (upon visiting), such as defining a line (or groove
in the earth), or placing a stone by the grave without any
writing on it, then there is no harm in this.
As
for writing, then this is not permissible, because the writing
is a means to shirk. So (sometime later) a generation may
come where the people will say: "Indeed the details of
this person have only been written on the gravestone because
this person was good and benefitted the people." And
as such, worshipping the grave has occurred.
Shaykh
Ibn Fowzaan
Fataawa li Ahlil-Mayyit - Question 30, Page 32
al-Muntaqaa min Fataawa al-Fowzaan - Volume 1, Page 195
|