Prostrating to Graves, Kissing Them and the Like

Question

A certain respected religious scholar, a graduate of this madrasa, commits the following acts. Is doing such things and teaching them permissible according to the Sacred Law in the Hanafi madhhab? Is this respected scholar [for that matter] a hereditary spiritual guide? Going to the shrines of his elders, he kisses the doors and walls; going up to the door of the shrine, he places his head [on it], then enters inside; and seeing him, the disciples do the same with even greater zeal.

Answer

Going up to the door of the shrine and placing one’s head [on it], assuming the posture of prostration — if it is with the intention of veneration, it is haram, and if with the intention of worship, it is shirk. Kissing the grave, or kissing the doors and walls of the shrine, is likewise haram.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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