ZIYARAH

(Arabic: visit), in Islam, a visit to the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in the mosque at Medina, Saudi Arabia; also a visit to the tomb of a saint or a holy person. The legitimacy of these latter visits has been questioned by many Muslim religious authorities, particularly by the Wahhabiyah, who consider ziyarah a bid'ah (innovation) that should be condemned by all true believers. The Wahhabiyah maintain, in fact, that such visits to the tombs of saints and the invocation of the names of saints in times of trouble is a form of polytheism, for God alone can grant salvation to a troubled person. Such objections notwithstanding, Muslims continue to make such visits in the hope of obtaining cures or the blessings of the saint. Because saints generally have the reputation for curing a specific disease, visits correspond to personal needs. Thus during some ziyarahs animals are slaughtered as sacrifices and fed to the poor in the name of the visited saint, especially Ahmad al-Badawi and as-Sayyidah Zaynab in Egypt, 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani in Tunisia, and 'Abd as-Salam al-Asmar in Libya. Almost every Arab town has its own saint, whose tomb is visited by the local inhabitants.