Our master محمد peace be upon him is the leader of the Prophets and the best of all humans. Visiting his grave is indeed among the rewardable acts and no one dares to object on that except for a deprived person far away from goodness, because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that whoever visits his grave will receive his intercession.
Dear brothers, the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم is alive in his grave and he benefits others, even after his death. He said my life is of benefit to you and after my death I will still be of benefit to you, your deeds will be presented to me, if I see good things, I’d praise Allah, and if I see evil things I’d ask Allah to forgive you.
The companions knew that very well, and they used to visit the grave of the Prophet seeking the blessings from Allah by the Prophet and the relief of hardships.
In an authentic chain of narration from Malik Ad-Dar, who was ^Umar’s treasurer, he said:
The people were inflicted with a drought during the time of ^Umar, so a man came to the grave of the Prophet and said “O Messenger of Allah, ask Allah for rain to come down for your nation, for surely they are perishing.” The man was approached in his dream, by the Prophet. It was said to him, “Convey the salam to ^Umar, and inform him that people will receive rain, and say to him, ‘Endeavor, endeavor’’ which means to put forth due diligence in dealing with the matters of the nation. The man came to ^Umar and informed him of what he saw, and here pay attention dear brothers, this man was identified as Bilal ibnul Harith al Muzaniyy who was a companion, and who was he informing? He was informing (al faruq) ^Umar the one who was known to be firm in forbidding the unlawful, he informed him that he went to the grave of the Prophet and made tawassul by him صلى الله عليه وسلم . ^Umar cried. He did not scold that companion nor did he tell him how do you visit the grave, instead he said, “O my Lord, I do to the best of my capability”.
Brothers in Islam, unfortunately there are people who do not understand the religious rules and are ignorant of the judgments, yet they pretend that they adhere to the sunnah of the messenger of Allah peace be upon him. Such misguided people are calling others to various corrupt creeds such as likening God to the creations and judging the entire muslim nation as blasphemers and belying matters that are by consensus. Among their misguidance is forbidding the travel for the purpose of visiting the grave of the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم . According to them, this travel is a sinful travel, we seek refuge with Allah from this ill and misguided fatwa.
Dear brothers, there is consensus among the muslim scholars that it is permissible to visit the grave of the honourable Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, whether one lives in al-Madinah, or one travels there for the purpose of visiting the Prophet’s grave. They considered such a visit a great act of obedience and a great merit.
Al-Hakim narrated in his book al-Mustadrak that the Prophet peace be upon him said that عيسى Jesus the son of Mary will indeed descend as a righteous leader and he will perform hajj or ^umrah and he will visit my grave and he will say salam to me and I will reply back.
it is recommended for the one visiting the grave of the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام to make ghusl prior to entering the mosque and to wear his cleanest clothes. He prays 2 rak^ahs and he thanks Allah for this great endowment, then he comes to the honourable grave and faces the wall of the grave looking towards the ground in a state of tranquillity and reverence, with a heart void of worldly thoughts, having present in his heart the greatness of where he is standing then he says as-salam without raising the voice, he says السلام عليك يا رسول الله
O brothers, we tell all the muslims and especially those who go to the pilgrimage to seek the mosque of the Prophet in al-Madinah, to visit his grave and ask Allah by his virtue peace be upon him.
We ask Allah to grant us performing pilgrimage and ^umrah and the privilege of visiting Prophet محمد in his grave and to see him in the dream.