The practice of putting flowers, basil, green leaves of trees or other green plants on the grave

A: The practice of putting flowers, basil, green leaves of trees or other green plants on the grave, claiming that they seek Allah's Forgiveness for the person buried in that grave until they become dry is a newly-invented practice and a Bid`ah (innovation in religion) that has no origin in Allah's Purified Shar` (Law). The only permissible practice is to seek Allah's Forgiveness and invoke Allah for the deceased when visiting the grave or at any other place, as only this benefits the dead person. As for the Hadith adopted by some people as evidence on the permissibility of putting green palm tree leaves or other green leaves on the graves, which was narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) that: Once (Part No. 7; Page No. 450) The Prophet (peace be upon him) passed by two graves and said, 'They are being punished, but they are not being punished for anything that was difficult to avoid. One of them used not to take precautions to avoid getting soiled by urine when he urinated, and the other used to walk about spreading Namimah (tale-bearing).' Then he (peace be upon him) took a green palm-branch, which he split in two and planted a piece on each grave. They said, 'O Messenger of Allah, why did you do that?' He (peace be upon him) said, 'May their punishment be reduced so long as these do not dry out.' (Related by Al-Bukhari) It can be said that such a situation was particular to these two people whom Allah informed His Prophet (peace be upon him) that they were being tortured in their graves for a sin each had committed. This practice was exclusive to Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him), not to be taken as a regular practice by the Muslims with regard to their graves.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.