Baqi' Cemetery

Baqi' Cemetery

Most of the Prophet Muhammad's family members and Companions of the Prophet (early followers of Islam) are buried in the Baqi' Cemetery in Madinah, located to the southeast of the Prophet's Mosque. Like all Muslim cemeteries, it is an open piece of land without decorative grave markers. (Domes which covered some of the grave sites were destroyed by the Saudi government.) Islam forbids believers from visiting cemeteries in order to worship or ask intercession from the dead. Rather, cemeteries are visited to show respect, to remember those who have died, and to remain conscious of our own mortality.

There are an estimated 10,000 graves in this site; some of the more famous Muslims who are buried here include many of the Mothers of the Believers and daughters of the Prophet Muhammad, Uthman bin Affan, Hasan, and Imam Malik bin Anas among others (may Allah be pleased with them all). It is reported that the Prophet Muhammad used to supplicate when passing by the cemetery: "Peace be upon you, O abode of the faithful! God willing, we should soon join you. O' Allah, forgive the fellows of al-Baqi." The cemetery is also known as Jannat Al-Baqi' (Tree Garden of Heaven).