It is a worth considering point that the belief in the acceptance of supplication near graves has given rise to the practice of regular visits to certain graves.
Urs is held at appointed days at certain graves. This practice is in the face of the Prophet’s prohibition that his grave be not taken as a place of congregation. And he had also cursed the Jews and the Christians for having turned the grave of their Messengers into places of worship. He had explicitly asked his community not to take graves as mosques, a wrong deed committed by earlier communities. Yet Urs is held at appointed dates at several graves. People assemble there exactly in the same manner as they do at Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina. So much attention is paid to the Urs that one feels that such arrangements are not made even for Hajj. People visit these graves from far and wide, and in the same manner as for Hajj. Some people even refer to these journeys as Hajj itself.
Such a journey for making supplication or worshipping near graves cannot be held as lawful in any case. No Muslim scholar can dispute this point. Some pseudo-scholar of a later date might have justified it which is not in our knowledge. What is plainly clear is that such a practice amounts to taking graves as places of congregation.
This practice is found at the graves of Nafisar in Egypt, the supposed grave of Ali in Iraq and at those of Hussain, Hudifah ibn al-Yaman, Salman Farsi, Moosa ibn Jafar, Muhammad ibn Ali Jawwad, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Maruf Karkhi and Abu Yazid Bistami. Those indulging in innovation have even erected mosques at these graves and some of these have been built at lands which have been illegally acquired.
Right Way To Love The Pious:
The pious persons, no doubt, deserve our love and obedience in that they have revived faith. We should undoubtedly follow them. We should make supplication for their forgiveness and that Allah’s mercy and pleasure descend on them. However, we should never take their graves as places of congregation. For such practices have been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger ﷺ . We must shun these. We have already explained that what is forbidden is that people assemble there at an appointed time. This view is universally accepted among Muslims, without any divergence of opinion. Such practices betray an imitation of the ways of the Jews and the Christians, which is not justifiable under any circumstances.
What lies at the root of this innovation is the belief that it is better to pray near graves and that it leads to the acceptance of one’s supplication. If this false belief is removed from the minds and hearts, this practice would come to an end. We consider it as our duty to reiterate the point that there are many evils in congregating near graves hence making supplications there is forbidden as is offering prayer there. But offering supplications there is much more serious in that it poses a serious trial for the Muslim community. It opens the door for polytheism. A Muslim who is concerned about his faith and about his success in the Hereafter must avoid this innovation.
مختصر اقتضاء الصراط المستقيم شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية رحمه الله