Muhammad b. an-Nu‘man who traced the tradition back to the Prophet reported him as saying, “If anyone visits the grave of his parents, or of one of them, every Friday he will be granted forgiveness and it will be recorded as filial piety.”
Baihaqi transmitted it in mursal form in Shu'ab al-iman.
She said she asked God’s messenger what she should say, i.e. when visiting graves, and he told her to say, “Peace be upon the inhabitants of the abodes, believers and Muslims, and God show mercy to those of us who go before and those who go later. If God will we shall join you."
Ibn Mas'ud reported God’s messenger as saying, “I forbade you to visit graves, but you may now visit them, for they produce abstinence in this world and act as a reminder of the next.”
‘A'isha said that whenever it was her turn for God's messenger to spend the night with her he would go out towards the end of the night to al-Baqi' and say, “Peace be upon you, household of a people who are believers. What you were being promised will come to you tomorrow, you receiving it after some delay, and if God will we shall join you. O God, grant forgiveness to the inhabitants of Baqi' al- Gharqad.” (This is the full name of the cemetery at Medina. Baqi' properly means a place with tree roots, and gharqad is the name of a thorny type of tree. The name was retained even when all signs of trees were removed.)
