Ruling on Muslims visiting the graves of kaafirs

Praise be to
Allaah.

It is permissible to visit the graves of those
who did not die in Islam in order only to learn a lesson from that. 

This is because of the report of Abu Hurayrah,
who said: “The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) visited the grave of his mother, and
he wept and those who were with him wept. Then he said, ‘I asked my
Lord for permission to pray for forgiveness for her, and He did not
grant me permission to do that, and I asked Him for permission to visit
her grave, and He gave me permission. So visit the graves, for they
are a reminder of death.’”

(Narrated by Muslim, 3/65; Abu Dawood, 2/72; al-Nasaa’i,
1/286; also by Ibn Maajah, al-Haakim, al-Bayhaqi and Ahmad) 

Buraydah (may Allaah be pleased with him)
narrated: “We were with the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) on a journey (according
to one report, on the campaign of the conquest [of Makkah]), and he
camped with us, and we were nearly one thousand on mounts. He prayed
two rak’ahs, then he turned to us weeping. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may
Allaah be pleased with him) got up and went to him, and said, ‘May my
father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allaah, what
is the matter?’ He said, ‘I asked my Lord to let me pray for forgiveness
for my mother, and He did not give me permission, and my eyes filled
with tears out of compassion for her in the Fire. I asked my Lord for
permission to visit her grave, and He granted me permission. I used
to forbid you to visit the graves, but (now) visit them, for visiting
them will increase you in good.’”

(Narrated by Ahmad, 5/355-359; Ibn Abi Shaybah, 4/139;
also narrated by Ibn Hibbaan and al-Haakim. The other addition was narrated
by al-Haakim who said, it is saheeh according to the conditions of the
two Shaykhs [al-Bukhaari and Muslim], and al-Dhahabi agreed with him,
and it is as they said. A briefer version was narrated by al-Tirmidhi,
who classed it as saheeh).  

If a Muslim visits the grave of a kaafir,
he does not greet h m with salaams or make du’aa’ for him; rather he
should give him the tidings of Hell. 

The evidence for that is the hadeeth of Sa’d
ibn Abi Waqqaas who said: “A Bedouin came to the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, ‘My father used
to uphold the ties of kinship, and so on and so forth  – where
is he now?’ He said, ‘In Hell.’ The Bedouin got upset and said, ‘O Messenger
of Allaah, where is your father?’ He said, ‘Whenever you pass by the
grave of a kaafir, give him the tidings of Hell.’ The Bedouin later
became a Muslim, and he said, ‘The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gave me a difficult commission.
Whenever I pass by the grave of a kaafir, I give him the tidings of
Hell.”’”

(Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer,
1/191; Ibn al-Sunni in ‘Aml al-Yawm wa’l-Laylah, 588; al-Diyaa’
al-Maqdisi in al-Ahaadeeth al-Mukhtaarah, with a saheeh
isnaad. Al-Haythami (1/117-118) said: it was narrated by al-Bazzaar
and by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer, and the men of its isnaad are
sound). 

And Abu Hurayrah narrated in a marfoo’
hadeeth [i.e., it is attributed to the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)]: “When you pass by the
graves of the people of the jaahilyyah, of our people and your people,
give them the news that they are among the people of Hell.” (Narrated
by Ibn al-Sunni in al-Yawm wa’l-Laylah with an isnaad which includes
Yahyaa ibn Yamaan, who had a bad memory, from Muhammad ibn ‘Umar. I
do not know it from Abu Salamah from him, but apparently he is Ibn ‘Amr,
who is hasan in narrating hadeeth. And Allaah knows best.”