I would like you to clarify the hadith you mentioned in one of your works: “The prophets pray in their graves.”

The questioner : May Allah preserve you, O Shaykh. You mentioned in one of your works the hadith that the prophets pray in their graves. I ask you to clarify this, and may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : This hadith is among the reports of the unseen, and it is not permissible for a Muslim to apply his intellect to it; rather, it is obligatory for him to submit to it. Although there is disagreement among some scholars of hadith regarding its authenticity, with some authenticating it and others weakening it, the stronger position in my view is that it is authentic. It is recorded in *Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah* and has been traced to its sources with scholarly precision. However, if some people doubt the authenticity of this hadith, there is another hadith whose authenticity is beyond doubt, for Imam Muslim included it in his *Sahih* from the narration of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Therefore, the prayer of the prophets in their graves is a sound belief that a Muslim must believe in. However, one should not go to extremes in trying to determine the nature of this prayer, such as saying, “How does Musa (peace be upon him) pray in his grave, when the grave is not spacious enough for Musa to stand and pray in it?” For we say that the realm of the unseen is not measured by the realm of the witnessed, and the realm of the barzakh is not measured by the realm of the Hereafter, for each has its own nature and characteristics. Thus, when the truthful and veracious one informed us that he saw Musa (peace be upon him) standing and praying in his grave, we believe him and have faith in it, and we entrust the knowledge of the reality of this prayer to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). On this basis, his (peace be upon him) saying: means that this life is not a material life such that when we address them, they respond to us and hear our words as they used to hear the words of people in this world when they were alive. We do not go to extremes in such details, because, as I mentioned earlier, the realm of the unseen is not measured by the realm of the witnessed, the realm of the material.
Yes.