Weeping while Passing by the Graves of the Dhalimin

باب البكاء والخوف عند المرور بقبور الظالمين ومصارعهم وإظهار الافتقار إلي الله تعالي والتحذير من الغفلة من ذلك

This short chapter turns the ruins of a destroyed people into a lesson for the living. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed the dwellings of Thamud at Al-Hijr, he told his Companions not to walk through such a place of punishment unmoved, but to pass with weeping and a humbled heart.

The chapter title speaks of the dhalimin, the wrongdoers, and the danger it warns against is ghaflah, heedlessness. The ruins are not for sightseeing, they are a mirror, the right response is fear of Allah, awareness of our own need for Him, and a refusal to let the hearts grow numb where others were destroyed.

Hadith 955

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

عن ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال لأصحابه -يعني لما وصلوا الحجر‏:‏ ديار ثمود-‏:‏ ‏"‏لا تدخلوا علي هؤلاء المعذبين إلا أن تكونوا باكين، فإن لم تكونوا باكين، فلا تدخلوا عليهم، لا يصيبكم ما أصابهم” ‏(‏‏(‏متفق عليه‏)‏‏)‏ وفي رواية قال‏:‏ لما مر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بالحجر قال‏:‏ ‏"‏لا تدخلوا مساكن الذين ظلموا أنفسهم أن يصيبكم ما أصابهم إلا ان تكونوا باكين‏"‏ ثم قنع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم رأسه وأسرع السير حتي أجاز الوادي‏.‏

Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and his Companions reached Al-Hijr, the dwellings of the Thamud people, he admonished his Companions (saying), "Do not pass by these people who are being tormented, without weeping, lest the punishment should befall you as it had befallen them." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

In plain words

Passing the ruins of a people who had been punished, the Prophet told his Companions not to enter such a place unmoved but with weeping and humility, lest heedlessness leave them open to a similar fate.

Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 955 In-book reference : Book 6, Hadith 62