What is the answer to those who argue with the presence of the Prophet's grave inside his mosque?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says: What is the answer to those who argue with the presence of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) grave in al-Masjid al-Nabawi since the earliest Islamic eras?
Answer:
It is a lie that the Messenger's grave is in al-Masjid al-Nabawi. The mosque was built ten years before the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) death. He (peace and blessings be upon him) was not buried in the mosque. Rather, he was buried in his house, in Aisha's room, outside the mosque. But when the mosque was expanded during the reign of al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik, may Allah forgive him, he included the rooms in the mosque as a result of his independent legal reasoning.
So this is the original state: the Messenger was not buried in the mosque, he was not buried in the mosque, but rather in Aisha's room outside the mosque. The inclusion of the room in the mosque afterwards was an action by some of the rulers, and it is not from the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Someone might ask: Why was the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) buried in his house, in Aisha's room?
Aisha, the Mother of the Believers, answered this when she narrated the hadithSahih al-Bukhari 3453, 3454. She said: "And if it were not for that—meaning the fear that the Messenger's grave would be taken as a mosque—if it were not for that, his grave would have been made prominent. But it was feared that it would be taken as a mosque, so he was buried in his house to protect it from his grave being taken as a mosque, like the practice of the Jews and the Christians. This is the original burial place of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), out of fear of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and to keep the community away from the means of shirk. Did the fact that some rulers, may Allah forgive them, brought the room into the mosque, is this his independent legal reasoning and it was not agreed upon? Yes. But someone might also ask: Why is the room not now made prominent so it can be seen from the mosque? They fear fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) now. They fear fitnah, and averting harms takes precedence over most benefits. But praise be to Allah, the grave is now controlled, and no one worships it, no one slaughters for it, and no one makes vows to it. It is protected, praise be to Allah, with a guard over it and people over it, so no one is able to commit shirk at the grave of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), may Allah protect him, because he said: "O Allah, do not make my grave an idol to be worshipped." So Allah responded to his supplication and protected it from worship. No one slaughters for the grave of the Messenger now, no one makes vows for the grave of the Messenger, and no one stands now to call for aid from the Messenger, outwardly. No one does this outwardly, because Allah protected it from that and guarded it, and He prepared for it those who protect and guard it.
Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "So his Lord, the Lord of the Worlds, responded to his supplication and surrounded it with three walls, so its corners became, by his supplication, in honor, protection, and safety. This is a sign from the signs of Allah. What happens at the grave of the Messenger now is not what happens at the graves of other deceased people. Nothing happens there except something hidden, which is between the person and his Lord. We do not know about the hidden thing, but the outward thing is prohibited. Yes."
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says: What is the answer to those who argue with the presence of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) grave in al-Masjid al-Nabawi since the earliest Islamic eras?
Answer:
It is a lie that the Messenger's grave is in al-Masjid al-Nabawi. The mosque was built ten years before the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) death. He (peace and blessings be upon him) was not buried in the mosque. Rather, he was buried in his house, in Aisha's room, outside the mosque. But when the mosque was expanded during the reign of al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik, may Allah forgive him, he included the rooms in the mosque as a result of his independent legal reasoning.
So this is the original state: the Messenger was not buried in the mosque, he was not buried in the mosque, but rather in Aisha's room outside the mosque. The inclusion of the room in the mosque afterwards was an action by some of the rulers, and it is not from the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Someone might ask: Why was the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) buried in his house, in Aisha's room?
Aisha, the Mother of the Believers, answered this when she narrated the hadith
May Allah's Curse be on the Jews and the Christians for they build places of worship at the graves of their prophets." (By that) he intended to warn (the Muslim) from what they (i.e. Jews and Christians) had done.
لعنة الله على اليهود والنصارى اتخذوا قبور أنبيائهم مساجد يحذر ما صنعواIbn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "So his Lord, the Lord of the Worlds, responded to his supplication and surrounded it with three walls, so its corners became, by his supplication, in honor, protection, and safety. This is a sign from the signs of Allah. What happens at the grave of the Messenger now is not what happens at the graves of other deceased people. Nothing happens there except something hidden, which is between the person and his Lord. We do not know about the hidden thing, but the outward thing is prohibited. Yes."
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما الجواب على من يحتج بوجود قبر النبي داخل مسجده؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
