The Questions: Reports have come from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibiting the taking of graves as mosques, and he prohibited taking his grave as a mosque. Is the presence of his grave (peace and blessings be upon him) in al-Masjid al-Nabawi an exception, and are the hadiths prohibiting building mosques over graves specific to the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his mosque?
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The questioner : Reports have come from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibiting the taking of graves as mosques, and he prohibited taking his grave (peace and blessings be upon him) as a mosque. Is the presence of his grave (peace and blessings be upon him) in al-Masjid al-Nabawi an exception, and are the hadiths prohibiting building mosques over graves specific to the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the mosque?
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited building mosques over graves, and that building mosques over graves is one of the means to shirk (associating partners with Allah). If a mosque is built over a grave, it is obligatory to demolish the mosque, and prayer in it is not valid, because it is a mosque of disobedience, and a mosque of disobedience cannot be a mosque of obedience. This is different from the case where a dead person is buried in a mosque; in that case, the mosque is not demolished, but it is obligatory to dig up the grave and bury the dead person outside of it.
The presence of the grave of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the mosque now does not contradict what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited, because the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was distinct and separate from the mosque. It was the room of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was buried in it, because no prophet has ever passed away without being buried in the place where he passed away. This is from one aspect.
From another aspect: If he had been buried in al-Baqi', it would have been taken as a mosque. But because he was buried in this enclosed and bounded room, that made it further from being taken as a mosque. It remained like this, outside the mosque and bounded, until the mosque was expanded in the time of al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik around the year 94 of the Hijrah. Around the year 94 of the Hijrah, al-Masjid al-Nabawi was expanded, and for a reason we do not know, the expansion had to be on the side where the grave was, so they were forced to include the grave in the expansion, but it was separated from the mosque by walls... and it remained like this.
With this, it becomes clearly evident that the mosque was not built over it, and that he (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) was not buried in what? in the mosque. And there is no proof in this for anyone who argues that it is permissible to build mosques over graves, because as you know, the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was not built over the grave. Rather, it was founded, by Allah, on taqwa (mindfulness of Allah), not on shirk (associating partners with Allah) or on the means of shirk. Therefore, there is no basis for the argument of anyone who uses this as a proof for the permissibility of building mosques over graves.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited building mosques over graves, and that building mosques over graves is one of the means to shirk (associating partners with Allah). If a mosque is built over a grave, it is obligatory to demolish the mosque, and prayer in it is not valid, because it is a mosque of disobedience, and a mosque of disobedience cannot be a mosque of obedience. This is different from the case where a dead person is buried in a mosque; in that case, the mosque is not demolished, but it is obligatory to dig up the grave and bury the dead person outside of it.
The presence of the grave of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the mosque now does not contradict what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited, because the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was distinct and separate from the mosque. It was the room of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was buried in it, because no prophet has ever passed away without being buried in the place where he passed away. This is from one aspect.
From another aspect: If he had been buried in al-Baqi', it would have been taken as a mosque. But because he was buried in this enclosed and bounded room, that made it further from being taken as a mosque. It remained like this, outside the mosque and bounded, until the mosque was expanded in the time of al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik around the year 94 of the Hijrah. Around the year 94 of the Hijrah, al-Masjid al-Nabawi was expanded, and for a reason we do not know, the expansion had to be on the side where the grave was, so they were forced to include the grave in the expansion, but it was separated from the mosque by walls... and it remained like this.
With this, it becomes clearly evident that the mosque was not built over it, and that he (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) was not buried in what? in the mosque. And there is no proof in this for anyone who argues that it is permissible to build mosques over graves, because as you know, the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was not built over the grave. Rather, it was founded, by Allah, on taqwa (mindfulness of Allah), not on shirk (associating partners with Allah) or on the means of shirk. Therefore, there is no basis for the argument of anyone who uses this as a proof for the permissibility of building mosques over graves.