A group wished to build a mosque, but they found graves in that location, so they moved them to another place. Is the prayer valid in this mosque, and what is obligatory for them to do?
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The questioner : He says: We live in one of the villages in the south, and we built a mosque to pray in it. However, when we started building it, we found graves in it, so we took the bodies out and placed them in another location. Please note that we have an old mosque that does not contain graves, but it is small and built of clay. Is it permissible for us to pray in this new mosque, or what must we do?
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. These graves are either pre-Islamic graves of disbelievers, in which case they have no sanctity, or they are the graves of Muslims. If they are the graves of Muslims, you have no right to dig them up and build a mosque in their place. What you did in digging them up and building the mosque is an error on your part. You must now consult the authorities in your country regarding this matter, and the responsible parties, which is either the court or the Ministry of Awqaf, so that they can look into this issue: whether the mosque should be demolished and the remains returned to their place, or whether it should be said that since the mosque was built and the bodies were moved to the cemetery with the people, it remains as it is. Whatever the responsible authorities decide in this matter, we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that they be successful in the truth. We also ask our Muslim brothers in general not to proceed with such actions without first consulting the scholars of knowledge or referring to the authorities in the matter. Yes.
The questioner : The next question is from the listener Muhammad Mu'ayyad 'Abd al-'Alim, an Egyptian working in Iraq.
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. These graves are either pre-Islamic graves of disbelievers, in which case they have no sanctity, or they are the graves of Muslims. If they are the graves of Muslims, you have no right to dig them up and build a mosque in their place. What you did in digging them up and building the mosque is an error on your part. You must now consult the authorities in your country regarding this matter, and the responsible parties, which is either the court or the Ministry of Awqaf, so that they can look into this issue: whether the mosque should be demolished and the remains returned to their place, or whether it should be said that since the mosque was built and the bodies were moved to the cemetery with the people, it remains as it is. Whatever the responsible authorities decide in this matter, we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that they be successful in the truth. We also ask our Muslim brothers in general not to proceed with such actions without first consulting the scholars of knowledge or referring to the authorities in the matter. Yes.
The questioner : The next question is from the listener Muhammad Mu'ayyad 'Abd al-'Alim, an Egyptian working in Iraq.