Screening Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān’s Library 217
occasion, he had met several influential Ahl-i Ḥadīth scholars. As we
know from some articles in his journal al-Manār, Rashīd Riḍā was
fully aware of such discussions and debates in India.
In Ṣiyānat al-insān, Muḥammad Bashīr Sahsawānī extensively quot-
ed Ibn Taymiyya, but without indicating specific works.^176 According
to Muḥammad Bashīr, Ibn Taymiyya had correctly explained how a
Muslim should behave when visiting the grave of the Prophet in the
Mosque of the Prophet in Medina, namely that the believer should
not hope that the Prophet would intercede between human beings and
God before the Day of Judgement. Like Ibn Taymiyya, Muḥammad
Bashīr even denied that the Prophet Muḥammad himself was alive
(ḥayy) in his grave.^177 Until the Day of Judgement, the Prophet “lived”
a life in the barzakh. Muḥammad Bashīr (like Ibn Taymiyya before
him) stressed that the Prophet was definitely separated from life on
earth and therefore could not hear the prayers of the believers. As
a consequence, he was not able to intercede for human beings until
the Day of Judgement. Asking for the fulfilment of earthly wishes
was therefore forbidden. It was even not recommended to ask for
Muḥammad’s intercession (tawassul) on the Day of Judgement. When
visiting Muḥammad’s grave, one should also avoid touching, rubbing
or kissing the walls of the grave. Nor is it permitted to perform any
kind of prayer at the grave – since only Allah is worthy of worship.
Instead, the believer should speak out a simple greeting, namely an
al-salām ʿalaykum (Peace be upon you) when entering the Mosque of
the Prophet in Medina. The Ahl-i Ḥadīth tried to follow all these rules
and regulations. It is reported that some did not visit Muḥammad’s
grave after having finished the Hajj. Some of them, by way of precau-
tion, even did not perform the “minor pilgrimage” (ʿumra) which is
often carried out in conjunction with the Hajj.^178
176 It might be assumed that Muḥammad Bashīr used Ibn Taymiyya’s Kitāb
al-Ḥajj wal-ʿumra (Book of the Greater and Smaller Pilgrimage to Mecca),
which was available to him from Ṣiddīq Ḥasan’s private library.
177 On the question of Muḥammad being alive in his grave, see Meier, Fritz: Eine
Auferstehung Muḥammads bei Suyūṭī, in: Der Islam 62 (1985), pp. 20–58.
178 In his Nuzhat al-khawāṭir, ʿAbd al-Ḥayy Ḥasanī often describes persons with
ḥajja wa-zāra (he performed the pilgrimage and visited the Prophet’s grave).
Several biographies of Ahl-i Ḥadīth contain only a ḥajja. The most prominent
of these was Muḥammad Bashīr Sahsawānī.
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