The myth that visiting the grave of ‘Ali equals seventy Hajj

Praise be to Allaah. 

Visiting graves is a Sunnah which provides a lesson and a reminder.
If the graves are those of Muslims, one should make du’aa’ for them…
The Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) used to visit graves and make du’aa’ for the
deceased, as did his companions, may Allaah be pleased with them. The
Messenger (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “Visit the graves, for they remind you
of the Hereafter.” He used to teach his companions, when they visited
graves, to say, “Al-salaamu ‘alayum
ahl al-diyaar min al-mu’mineen wa’l-muslimeen, wa innaa in sha Allaah
bikum laahiqoon. Nas’al Allaaha lana wa lakum al-‘aafiyah
(Peace be upon you O inhabitants of the dwellings, believers and Muslims.
If Allaah wills, we shall join you soon. We ask Allaah to keep us and
you safe and sound.).”  

According to the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah: “Yarham
Allaah al-mustaqdimeena minna wa’l-musta’khireen (may Allaah
have mercy on those of us who went first and those who will join them
afterward).” According to the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas “yaghfir
Allaah lana wa lakum, antum salafuna wa nahnu fi’l-athr (May
Allaah forgive us and you. You are our predecessors and we are following
in your footsteps).” Making du’aa’ for them in these or similar words
is all good. Visiting them brings a reminder and a lesson to the believer
to prepare for what has befallen them, i.e., death, for what happened
to them will happen to him too. So let him make preparations and strive
to obey Allaah and His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and keep away from that
which Allaah and His Messenger have forbidden. Let him repent from his
previous shortcomings. This is how the believer is to benefit from visiting
graves.  

With regard to what is mentioned (in the question) about visiting
the graves of ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him), al-Hasan, al-Husayn
and others being equivalent to seventy Hajj – this is a lie and is falsely
attributed to the Messenger (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and it has no basis. Visiting
the grave of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who is the best of all, is not
equivalent to one Hajj; this visit has its status and virtues, but it
is not equivalent to Hajj, so how about visits to anyone else’s grave?
This is a lie, as is the phrase “Whoever visits the members of my household
(ahl bayti) after I die
will have seventy Hajj recorded for him.” All of this has no basis at
all and all of it is false. All of it is lies made up by the liars.
The believer has to beware of these fabricated things that have been
falsely attributed to the Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). It is Sunnah to visit the
graves whether they are graves of the members of his household (Ahl
al-Bayt) or other Muslims; (it is Sunnah) to visit them, make du’aa’
for them, pray for mercy for them and then leave.  

If they are the graves of kaafirs, they may be visited
for the purpose of learning a lesson and being reminded, without making
du’aa’ for them. The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) visited his mother’s grave, but
his Lord forbade him to pray for forgiveness for her. He visited her
grave for the purpose of the lesson and reminder, but he did not pray
for forgiveness for her. This applies to all other graves – graves of
kaafirs – if a believer visits them for the purpose of the lesson and
reminder, there is nothing wrong with that, but he should not greet
them with salaams or pray for forgiveness for them, because they do
not deserve that.