Q: Does the Prophet (peace be upon him) hear a person when he invokes or calls at his grave or when a person invokes Allah's peace upon him as narrated in the Hadith: "Whoever invokes Allah's peace upon me I will hear him..." Is this Hadith authentic, weak, or ascribed falsely to Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him)?

A: The basic rule states that dead people do not hear humans' calling or invoking, Allah (Exalted be He) says: ...but you cannot make hear those who are in graves. Nothing in the Qur'an or the authentic Sunnah states that the Prophet hears all invocations or calls to confirm this special characteristic for him. It is only authentically reported that he (peace be upon him) hears a person's invoking Allah's peace and blessings upon the Prophet (peace be upon him) no matter how far or close the person may be from the Prophet's grave. It is the same in either case according to the Hadith reported on the authority of `Aly ibn Al-Husayn ibn `Aly (may Allah be pleased with them) that he saw a man who used to go to an opening at the grave (Part No. 3; Page No. 230) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) then enter through it and invoke Allah.`Aly then forbade him from doing so and said, 'Should I relate to you a Hadith I heard from Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him)? He (peace be upon him) said: Do not make my grave a place of celebration and do not make your houses graves, but invoke blessings on me, for your blessings reach me wherever you may be As to the Hadith: Whoever invokes Allah's Peace upon me at my grave I will hear him and whoever invokes Allah's Peace upon me afar It will be related to me, it is considered a Da`if (weak) Hadith by religious scholars. Ibn Taymiyyah said that this Hadith is ascribed falsely to Al-A`mash according to the general consensus of Hadith scholars. As to the Hadith narrated by Abu Dawud with a Hasan Isnad (chain of narration) on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Whenever someone greets me, Allah returns the soul to my body (in the grave) and I return his greeting, it does not say that the Prophet (peace be upon him) hears the person's invocation. In fact, it says he (peace be upon him) may reply the greeting when angels tell him of the person who greets him. Supposing that the Prophet (peace be upon him) hears the Muslim's invocation, this does not mean we may call or invoke him.