some people say ad-dahabi was an innovator because he allowed kissing and touching the grave of Prophet peace be upon him in Mojam al Shuyukh page 55 and said: ""Since we have not had the tremendous fortune of sharing in this, we throw ourselves on his grave as a mark of commitment, reverence, acceptance, and kissing. Don't you see what Thabit al-Bunani did when he kissed the hand of Anas ibn Malik and placed it on his face saying: "This is the hand that touched the hand of Allah's Messenger"? "" and he said it many times in seyar ailam an-nubala that so and so died and his grave is visited and people sought blessings from it.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

Ath-Thahabi was a prominent Muslim scholar and one of the religious leaders (Imaams). He played a great role in serving Islam, spreading the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and writing biographies of the people associated with it. He also fought against religious innovations and superstitions including the practices done at the grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. He wrote, “However, whoever visits the grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and fails to abide by the proper conduct of the visit or prostrates himself before the grave or does whatever is not prescribed by Sharee'ah has done something good and something bad so he should be taught gently; verily, Allaah is Forgiving and Merciful.” [Siyar A‘laam An-Nubalaa’]

The statement to which you referred in the question was cited in his book Mu‘jam Ash-Shuyookh Al-Kabeer. He wrote those words after citing the statement of Imaam Ahmad suggesting that there is no harm in kissing the grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. He wrote: “When Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked about touching and kissing the grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, he did not disapprove of such an act as narrated on the authority of his son ‘Abdullaah ibn Ahmad. If it is argued, ‘But the Companions did not do such an act?’ the answer will be that they accompanied him personally; they had the privilege of seeing him, kissing his hands, competing with one another for the leftover water from his ablution, and divided his blessed hair among themselves on the Farewell Hajj. When he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, spat, the spittle would fall in the hand of one of them who would rub it on his face. Since we have been denied such a privilege and the tremendous fortune of sharing in this, we throw ourselves at his grave to embrace, revere, touch, and kiss it. Do you not see what Thaabit Al-Bunaani did? He would kiss the hand of Anas ibn Maalik, place them on his face, and say, ‘This is a hand that had touched the hand of the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.’”

Ath-Thahabi arrived at that view believing that he was following the example of early Muslim generations so the least that can be done is excuse him for his opinion and assign an appropriate interpretation to his words, not accuse him of being an innovator.

Whoever labels Ath-Thahabi an innovator deserves more to be labelled one himself; no one would dare do so except someone who is either ignorant or misled. Imaam An-Nawawi dedicated a chapter in his book At-Tibyaan to honoring the people of the Quran and the prohibition of offending them, citing a number of passages from the Quran and Hadeeths concerning this. He then said, “The Imaam, the Haafith, Abu Al-Qaasim ibn ‘Asaakir said: “You should know, my dear brother – may Allaah give us and you the grace of His Pleasure and to fear Him and have true piety – that the the flesh of the scholars is poisonous. The way of Allaah in exposing their detractors is known, and (also known is) that anyone who speaks ill of the scholars, Allaah The Exalted will try them before death with the death of the heart. Allaah The Exalted says (what means): {So let those beware who dissent from the Prophet's order, lest Fitnah strike them or a painful punishment.} [Quran 24:63].”

There is a difference between labeling an act as a Bid‘ah (religious innovation) and declaring the person who does it an innovator since not all those who commit religious innovations are labelled as innovators because of impediments like interpretation and the like. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 85732.

Most scholars hold that it is disliked to kiss the grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam; the term “disliked” (Makrooh) was often used by early scholars as a synonym of forbidden. It has been reported that Imaam Ahmad denounced kissing the grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. When he was asked about it, he replied, “I know of no such practice.”

His opinion on the permissibility of rubbing the Prophet’s Minbar (pulpit) was based on the fact that Ibn ‘Umar did it. Ibn Qudaamah said in Al-Mughni: “It is disliked to touch the wall of the Prophet’s grave for blessing.”

An-Nawawi strictly forbade such an act saying, “The proper manner in this regard is for the person to keep his distance from the Prophet’s grave as he would in the presence of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. This is the correct conduct stated by scholars and translated in their actions. One should not be deceived by the practices of the many misled lay Muslims in this regard; one should follow the authentic Ahaadeeth and opinions of scholars, not the religious innovations and ignorance of lay people.”

For further information, please refer to Fatwa 156615.