What advice and guidance do you offer to a group of brothers who are planning to visit the Prophet's Mosque after their Hajj this year?

1. Madinah is a sacred place whose sanctity must be respected. One is warned against introducing innovations (bid'ah) or superstitions into it.

2. Visiting the Prophet's Mosque is a Sunnah (recommended act) and not an obligation related to Hajj. It is not permissible to set out on a journey specifically to visit graves or to seek help from the deceased.

3. Praying in the Prophet's Mosque multiplies the reward, but performing voluntary (nafilah) prayers at home is better.

4. It is not permissible to seek blessings (tabarruk) from any part of the Prophet's Mosque or the Prophet's Chamber.

5. It is legislated to pray in the Rawdah Sharifa (Noble Garden), while being careful not to harm people.

6. It is legislated to visit Quba Mosque and pray in it to gain the reward of an 'Umrah.

7. It is not legislated to visit other mosques or places in Madinah for which there is no evidence for visiting them or worshipping at them.

8. It is legislated for men to visit the grave of the Prophet and his two companions, Abu Bakr and Umar, to offer greetings and supplicate. It is not permissible for women to visit graves.

9. It is legislated for men to visit Al-Baqi' cemetery and the martyrs of Uhud to offer greetings and supplicate.

10. Visiting graves is legislated for taking a lesson and supplicating for the dead. It is stipulated that one must not utter nonsense or shirk (polytheism). It is not permissible to circumambulate graves, or pray towards them, or at them, or seek blessings from them, or build upon them, or seek aid from the dead, as this is major shirk which expels its perpetrator from Islam.