Even on this day, the ranks of the Muslims who visited Madinah will shine uniquely bright. The Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم issued glad tidings by saying, مَنْ زَارَ قَبْرِي وَجَبَتْ لَهُ شَفَاعَتِي - “My intercession is wājib for whoever beholds my grave.”^[1]

A particular word used in this hadith is شَفَاعَتِي. This makes this hadith mean that whoever visits the Prophet’s resting place in Madinah, will not receive the intercession of the scholars, angels, martyrs or ḥajj pilgrims. Instead, the final Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم himself will personally intercede for them.^[2]

سُبْحٰنَ اللہ Receiving the intercession of the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم is a matter of great fortune. The majestic manner of his intercession is unparalleled and unmatched. Painting a picture of this with his poetry, Imam Aḥmad Razā Khān رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه says:

When the beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم intercedes for his people on the Day of Judgement, the beauty and magnificence of the intercession will be such that those who have not committed any sin and have been admitted into Paradise without accountability, will still feel a sense of longing. They will wish to take loan of someone’s sins, so that they too can have the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم intercede for them.

To finalise, hadith teach us how whoever beholds the grave of the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم, will have the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم personally intercede for him. سُبْحٰنَ اللہ May Allah make us amongst those included in this intercession!