The Ruling on Domes in Mosques and Their Connection to Means of Shirk (Associating Partners with Allah)

Question:
The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, you mentioned in a previous lesson that domes in mosques, if they are not over graves or shrines, are a form of architectural art. The question is: Does it not occur to people when they see domes on mosques outside this country that they are for the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous? Also, are domes not a means of shirk (associating partners with Allah), since the first to do it were the innovators, and is it not better to prohibit them?

Answer:
If domes are over graves, they are a means of shirk (associating partners with Allah). But if the domes are in mosques, it is architectural art; it may be more beneficial for the mosque and is an engineering art. They say that sound travels more in domed structures, or that the mosque becomes cooler. If there is a dome, it becomes cooler; the interior is cooler than the atmosphere of a flat roof. So there is nothing wrong with that. Domes become a means of shirk only if they are over graves. As for domes that are not a means of shirk, such as domes in houses or domes in mosques that are free of graves, there is no blame in that. And the ignorant person who wants to say that this is disliked (makruh) or that this is the case—his statement is not considered, his statement is not considered, because his statement is without evidence and without a correct explanation. Yes.