There is a mosque in our village with a shrine next to it. Is it permissible to pray in it, given that the shrine is behind the mosque?
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Question:
There is a mosque in our village, and next to it is a shrine. The mosque is named after the person in the shrine. Some say it is not permissible to pray in it, while others say it is permissible as long as the grave is far from the shrine. The mosque has been built and its location drawn, as has the location of the shrine. May Allah reward you with good. The questioner asks about the ruling. May Allah reward you with good. According to the drawing, the location of the shrine is in the rear section of the mosque?
Answer:
If this mosque was built for the sake of the shrine, and this shrine is within the precincts of the mosque, then it is not permissible to pray in it; because it was built over a grave, and praying in it is praying at the grave. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade making graves into mosques and cursed whoever did so; because this is a means to shirk (associating partners with Allah). If this grave is within the precincts of the mosque, and the mosque is named after its owner for the sake of honoring him, and for the sake of intending to visit him and pray in it, and to make du'a' (supplication) at his grave hoping for a response, then this is a great means among the means of shirk. And if the one praying or the visitor to this mosque intends to obtain blessing from this shrine, or calls upon him other than Allah, or seeks aid from him other than Allah as the grave-worshippers do, then this is major shirk that takes one out of Islam. In any case, this is among the matters of the jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance): building graves, building shrines over graves, and making them into mosques for prayer, and places of visitation for seeking blessing, seeking aid, fulfilling needs, and relieving distress. These are idols worshipped other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic). There is no difference between them and al-Lat, al-Uzza, and the third one; because they are all places of shirk, and they are all idols established to practice shirk with them and around them. There is no power and no strength except with Allah.
There is a mosque in our village, and next to it is a shrine. The mosque is named after the person in the shrine. Some say it is not permissible to pray in it, while others say it is permissible as long as the grave is far from the shrine. The mosque has been built and its location drawn, as has the location of the shrine. May Allah reward you with good. The questioner asks about the ruling. May Allah reward you with good. According to the drawing, the location of the shrine is in the rear section of the mosque?
Answer:
If this mosque was built for the sake of the shrine, and this shrine is within the precincts of the mosque, then it is not permissible to pray in it; because it was built over a grave, and praying in it is praying at the grave. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade making graves into mosques and cursed whoever did so; because this is a means to shirk (associating partners with Allah). If this grave is within the precincts of the mosque, and the mosque is named after its owner for the sake of honoring him, and for the sake of intending to visit him and pray in it, and to make du'a' (supplication) at his grave hoping for a response, then this is a great means among the means of shirk. And if the one praying or the visitor to this mosque intends to obtain blessing from this shrine, or calls upon him other than Allah, or seeks aid from him other than Allah as the grave-worshippers do, then this is major shirk that takes one out of Islam. In any case, this is among the matters of the jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance): building graves, building shrines over graves, and making them into mosques for prayer, and places of visitation for seeking blessing, seeking aid, fulfilling needs, and relieving distress. These are idols worshipped other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic). There is no difference between them and al-Lat, al-Uzza, and the third one; because they are all places of shirk, and they are all idols established to practice shirk with them and around them. There is no power and no strength except with Allah.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، في قريتنا مسجد وبجواره ضريح، فهل تجوز الصلاة فيه، علما أن الضريح خلف المسجد؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.