Signs at Their Graves

A story is mentioned by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, narrated by ʿAṭṭāf ibn Khālid, who said that his aunt related to him: "I rode one day to the graves of the martyrs — something I often did — and I stopped and prayed for a certain time near the grave of Ḥamzah. There was no one there in the valley except a youth standing, holding the head of my mount. When I had finished, I made the farewell gesture, indicating, 'Peace be upon you.' Then I heard the greeting being returned to me, emanating from beneath the ground. I am as sure of this as I am that Almighty and Glorious Allah created me, and as I know night from day; every hair of my body stood on end." So the greeting was returned to her, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says that anyone who goes and visits the grave of the martyrs of Uḥud and gives them salām, it will be returned to them.

Al-Wāqidī says that when Muʿāwiyah was about to dig a canal, in the time of his caliphate, close to the cemetery of the martyrs of Uḥud, he had the crier announce that anyone who had a relative killed at Uḥud should come and be a witness, because this canal might cut through some of the graves, and he wanted the relatives of the deceased to be there so they could point out whose grave it was and move them if necessary. Jābir, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "A man came to me and said, 'Jābir, some of Muʿāwiyah's workers have uncovered your father to sight, and part of him is outside the grave.'" So Jābir went, and he said, "When we dug for them, I found my father in his grave, lying as though asleep, unchanged. We also found that his companion in the grave, ʿAmr ibn al-Jamūḥ, had his hand over a wound, and when it was removed, the wound emitted blood." It also says that a spade struck the foot of Ḥamzah, and blood came out. Jābir said, "We brought them out as though they had been buried the previous day." Ibn Kathīr said, "It is said that the grave of each one of them gave forth a scent like that of musk" — and this was forty-six years after they were buried. It was as if they had just been buried, and the smell of musk was still coming out of their graves. These are among the karāmāt of the martyrs.