What is the ruling on visiting graves in general, and visiting the grave of Sayyida Zaynab specifically with the intention of maintaining kinship ties, without any intention of seeking intercession (tawassul), blessings (tabarruk), or innovation (bid‘ah)? Do the Family of the Prophet (Ahl al-Bayt) have the power to intercede with Allah, and did Sayyida Zaynab die as a martyr?

Visiting graves is a recommended Sunnah to remember the Hereafter and to supplicate for the deceased. It is not, in itself, a form of maintaining kinship ties, but rather a general act of righteousness. It is not permissible to supplicate to the deceased or to seek intercession from them, as that is shirk (polytheism) or a means leading to it. The Household of the Prophet (Ahl al-Bayt) do not possess the ability to intercede after their death; rather, their deeds have ceased. Intercession on the Day of Judgment will be for all righteous believers, not exclusively for the Household of the Prophet, and it is a gift from Allah to the believers, not something that can be sought from the dead. There is no evidence for the burial of Lady Zaynab bint Ali in Damascus or Egypt; the most likely place of her burial is Madinah. As for what some propagate about her burial in Sham due to a famine in Madinah, it is an unsubstantiated claim. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah did not specifically curse Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah, but it is authentically reported from him that he cursed whoever killed Al-Husayn or was pleased with that act. Yazid did not order the killing of Al-Husayn; rather, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad was the one who did so, and Yazid, like other Muslim rulers, had good deeds and bad deeds.