He Deviated from the Unanimous Opinion on Visiting the Prophet (s.a.w.)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Shaykh Abu al-Hasanat al-Lucknawi (r.a.) wrote, in his Ibraz al-Ghayy fi Shifa’ al-‘Ay, “The Exposure of Deviation for the Healing of the Sick”, about Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah (r.a.), “Until ibn Taymiyyah, not a single scholar ever questioned, even in the slightest, the permissibility of visiting the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) grave.  Rather, all scholars unanimously supported the ruling that it was one of the best acts of worship and highest acts of obedience.  The only difference was whether it was wajib or near the wajib or merely recommended.  The first who broke the unanimity is ibn Taymiyyah.”

On the legalities of ziyarah, visiting, the Rawdhah of the Prophet (s.a.w.), the Malikis consider it wajib; the Hanafis consider it a sunnah al-mu’akkadah, and the Shafi’i’s and Hanbalis consider it mustahabb.