The Ruling on Removing Graves and Building on Them

Question:
And our Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) says: If Abu Lahab had traveled to a state seeking Allah, would they not ask about him? Do they come out of his soul? Or do they answer the present? Or do they call themselves to another place?

Answer:
Removing graves and building on them, removing the structures that are on the graves, this is something that only the rulers who have authority can accomplish. If individual people remove them, fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) occurs, evil occurs, and perhaps the evil increases, as the owners of these graves increase their evil and build on them more than was there originally. So removing these things is within the jurisdiction of the rulers. If it is possible and rulers are found who will remove them, that is one thing. But if they are not found, then it is upon you to clarify only. As for removal by hand, this leads to fitnah, evil, and great harm, and the intended goal is not achieved. If you remove it today, they will build it tomorrow better and stronger than it was, and the people of evil with them will fund them and help them. But when this is done by the hand of the ruler, they stop at its limit, and no one is able to restore it or build it a second time. Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him), at the beginning of his affair, used to see people circumambulating the grave of Zayd ibn al-Khattab in al-Jubaylah, and he would clarify to them and say, "This is shirk (associating partners with Allah) and this is not permissible." But his hand did not extend to demolishing the grave, until Allah provided for him a ruler, and he pledged allegiance to Prince Muhammad ibn Sa'ud, and the Prince responded to him and helped him. At that time, he demolished the grave while the people were looking at it, and they were unable to prevent him, and they were unable to rebuild it, because the ruler did this, and no one is able to contradict the ruler. And the issue of the method of removing the grave in a prescribed manner, meaning the prescribed removal, is by what achieves the benefit and repels the harm. If the benefit is in demolishing the structure and leaving the grave in its place, there is no harm. But if the benefit is in digging up the grave and moving it to the public cemetery, there is no harm in that. This follows the benefit and the achievement of the required goal. And if the benefit is in removing both, removing the grave and removing the structure, then likewise. Yes.