Is prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi not prescribed due to the presence of the Prophet's grave (peace and blessings be upon him)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Regarding "al-Masjid al-Amawi," some people also consider the grave to be part of it...
The Shaykh : This is a phrase he read from a book; we have already provided the answer to this question in the same section on prayer.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : So the question is as follows: The questioner says—and he has the right to ask—so is prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi not prescribed?
Is the loudspeaker working for you?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay. --
This is the question, and I said that the simplified answer to this question is also in that book, "Tahdhir al-Sajid" (Warning to the One Who Prostrates). The summary of the answer is: Prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), despite the presence of the grave in it, is not like prayer in other mosques built over graves. This is because prayer in the Messenger's mosque (peace be upon him) has a virtue that is not found in any mosque in the world except the mosque in Makkah. This is based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):. This virtue is established, stable, and continuous until the Day of Resurrection. So whoever prays in this mosque seeking this virtue that the Messenger (peace be upon him) explicitly mentioned, he has this virtue, and nothing abrogates it.
How do we reconcile this with the previous warning?
We have clarified the answer to this question in that book. We said: The example of prayer in mosques built over graves is like the example of prayer in the times when it is prohibited, after the sun rises, at its setting, and when it is at its zenith in the middle of the sky. And the example of prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi, despite the presence of the grave in it, is like the example of voluntary prayers with specific causes in those times when prayer is prohibited. That is: If a man enters any mosque during a time of dislike, does he pray the greeting of the mosque or not? The correct answer is: He prays. If someone opposes us and says: How can you pray at this time? This is what happened to us in this last Umrah. We entered al-Masjid al-Nabawi about ten minutes before the Maghrib prayer, so I stood up to pray the greeting. People passed by, and one of them was bold and said: "O man, it is not time for prayer now!" Of course, I was not in a position to reply to him, but I am telling you that people know that prayer is disliked in the three times absolutely. However, the school of Imam al-Shafi'i distinguishes, and this is the correct position in the issue: "Voluntary prayers intended solely for increasing closeness to Allah, which are absolute voluntary prayers, are not permissible to be prayed in those times. But voluntary prayers that have causes are permissible, such as the sunnah of wudu, the greeting of the mosque, and the like." So this type of prayer—namely, those with causes—is an exception to the ruling of the dislike of prayer in the three times. Why? The scholars said: Because this prayer at that time is not intended for the sake of absolute voluntary prayer alone; because absolute voluntary prayer can be performed in times free from dislike. Rather, you are performing voluntary prayer for an occasion, which is your entering the mosque. So a cause exists. If you do not pray for this cause, you miss the prayer. But the absolute voluntary prayer is never missed for all time; you can pray it at any time.
Likewise, prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi: if you do not pray in it because of the presence of the grave, you miss the reward of a thousand prayers. Whereas in other mosques, if you do not pray in "Bani Umayyah," you pray, for example, in "al-Bagha" or other mosques like "al-Uqayba," and you do not miss any of the virtue at all. But the reality—and this is also regrettable—is that many people mistakenly believe that prayer in "al-Masjid Bani Umayyah" also has a special virtue! The most astonishing and strange thing is that they exaggerated this virtue until it surpassed the virtue of prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi, and they brought it close to the virtue of prayer in al-Masjid al-Haram. It is mentioned in "Hashiyat Ibn 'Abidin" that prayer in "al-Masjid Bani Umayyah," as Sufyan al-Thawri said, is equal to seventy thousand prayers. This is how they mentioned it. Many people who do not know knowledge and its principles said: Sufyan al-Thawri said it, and the matter ended there. If they knew that if Sufyan al-Thawri had said: "The Messenger of Allah said," this hadith would have had no weight or value, because in the terminology of hadith scholars, it is a mu'dal hadith; meaning it is more than a mursal hadith, and a mursal hadith is not used as evidence; how then with a mu'dal one? And how is it when he did not say: "The Messenger of Allah said"? Sufyan al-Thawri said so, and how is it when the chain to Sufyan al-Thawri is not authentic? Darkness upon darkness! Despite this, it is mentioned in "Hashiyat Ibn 'Abidin" as if the Lord of the Worlds revealed it in the Noble Qur'an. And so you find many people, especially Muslims among them, intentionally praying in that mosque; whereas there is no difference between it and any other mosque. Yes, there is a difference; because the grave is present in it. So attending this place, where there is calling for aid other than Allah and associating partners with Allah, is originally not permissible even if there were not such hadiths; because you want to attend, you want to enjoin good and forbid evil, and you cannot do that at all, otherwise the people would rise against you and harm you, and perhaps kill you.
Yes.
...
The Shaykh : This is a phrase he read from a book; we have already provided the answer to this question in the same section on prayer.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : So the question is as follows: The questioner says—and he has the right to ask—so is prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi not prescribed?
Is the loudspeaker working for you?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay. --
This is the question, and I said that the simplified answer to this question is also in that book, "Tahdhir al-Sajid" (Warning to the One Who Prostrates). The summary of the answer is: Prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), despite the presence of the grave in it, is not like prayer in other mosques built over graves. This is because prayer in the Messenger's mosque (peace be upon him) has a virtue that is not found in any mosque in the world except the mosque in Makkah. This is based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
A prayer in my mosque is worth a thousand prayers in any other mosque except al-Masjid al-Haram
صلاة في مسجدي هذا بألف صلاة ممَّا سواه من المساجد إلا المسجد الحرامHow do we reconcile this with the previous warning?
We have clarified the answer to this question in that book. We said: The example of prayer in mosques built over graves is like the example of prayer in the times when it is prohibited, after the sun rises, at its setting, and when it is at its zenith in the middle of the sky. And the example of prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi, despite the presence of the grave in it, is like the example of voluntary prayers with specific causes in those times when prayer is prohibited. That is: If a man enters any mosque during a time of dislike, does he pray the greeting of the mosque or not? The correct answer is: He prays. If someone opposes us and says: How can you pray at this time? This is what happened to us in this last Umrah. We entered al-Masjid al-Nabawi about ten minutes before the Maghrib prayer, so I stood up to pray the greeting. People passed by, and one of them was bold and said: "O man, it is not time for prayer now!" Of course, I was not in a position to reply to him, but I am telling you that people know that prayer is disliked in the three times absolutely. However, the school of Imam al-Shafi'i distinguishes, and this is the correct position in the issue: "Voluntary prayers intended solely for increasing closeness to Allah, which are absolute voluntary prayers, are not permissible to be prayed in those times. But voluntary prayers that have causes are permissible, such as the sunnah of wudu, the greeting of the mosque, and the like." So this type of prayer—namely, those with causes—is an exception to the ruling of the dislike of prayer in the three times. Why? The scholars said: Because this prayer at that time is not intended for the sake of absolute voluntary prayer alone; because absolute voluntary prayer can be performed in times free from dislike. Rather, you are performing voluntary prayer for an occasion, which is your entering the mosque. So a cause exists. If you do not pray for this cause, you miss the prayer. But the absolute voluntary prayer is never missed for all time; you can pray it at any time.
Likewise, prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi: if you do not pray in it because of the presence of the grave, you miss the reward of a thousand prayers. Whereas in other mosques, if you do not pray in "Bani Umayyah," you pray, for example, in "al-Bagha" or other mosques like "al-Uqayba," and you do not miss any of the virtue at all. But the reality—and this is also regrettable—is that many people mistakenly believe that prayer in "al-Masjid Bani Umayyah" also has a special virtue! The most astonishing and strange thing is that they exaggerated this virtue until it surpassed the virtue of prayer in al-Masjid al-Nabawi, and they brought it close to the virtue of prayer in al-Masjid al-Haram. It is mentioned in "Hashiyat Ibn 'Abidin" that prayer in "al-Masjid Bani Umayyah," as Sufyan al-Thawri said, is equal to seventy thousand prayers. This is how they mentioned it. Many people who do not know knowledge and its principles said: Sufyan al-Thawri said it, and the matter ended there. If they knew that if Sufyan al-Thawri had said: "The Messenger of Allah said," this hadith would have had no weight or value, because in the terminology of hadith scholars, it is a mu'dal hadith; meaning it is more than a mursal hadith, and a mursal hadith is not used as evidence; how then with a mu'dal one? And how is it when he did not say: "The Messenger of Allah said"? Sufyan al-Thawri said so, and how is it when the chain to Sufyan al-Thawri is not authentic? Darkness upon darkness! Despite this, it is mentioned in "Hashiyat Ibn 'Abidin" as if the Lord of the Worlds revealed it in the Noble Qur'an. And so you find many people, especially Muslims among them, intentionally praying in that mosque; whereas there is no difference between it and any other mosque. Yes, there is a difference; because the grave is present in it. So attending this place, where there is calling for aid other than Allah and associating partners with Allah, is originally not permissible even if there were not such hadiths; because you want to attend, you want to enjoin good and forbid evil, and you cannot do that at all, otherwise the people would rise against you and harm you, and perhaps kill you.
Yes.
...
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.