Is the prohibition of praying in mosques built over graves specific to the graves of the prophets?
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The questioner : It is not a simple matter; there is detail involved. It may occur to some that the mosque containing the grave of the Prophet is the only one, or they may ask: if there is a grave of someone other than a prophet, such as a righteous person, is it included in the meaning of the hadith or in its indication?
The Shaykh : What comes to mind?
The questioner : The grave in the mosque that contains the grave of a prophet only is not...
The Shaykh : So, is the ruling regarding the prohibition of prayer specific to the graves of the prophets?
The questioner : Clarification...
The Shaykh : Well, there is no harm. If it is possible, some people, in any case, yes, please, my brothers. The previous ruling regarding the prohibition of praying in mosques built over graves is, of course, not specific to the graves of the prophets; rather, it is a general ruling that includes any grave, whether it is the grave of a prophet or a close friend of Allah. And in those hadiths we referred to, there is one whose wording is from the hadith of the Lady Aisha. She said: When Umm Salama and Umm Habiba came from Abyssinia—they were among the female emigrants—they mentioned a church they had seen in Abyssinia and described its beauty and the images in it. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I also do not want to prolong this. This is explicit that the ruling includes the grave of any person, whether he is a prophet or a close friend of Allah. And I insist on our brothers who have not studied my book, Warning the Worshipper from Taking Graves as Mosques, to study this book for two reasons. The first, and most important, is that they know the ruling of Allah the Exalted in this serious matter. The second is that they may say, either with their tongues or in their hearts, "We have not heard of this in our forefathers; we have never heard that praying in a mosque containing a grave is forbidden." So let them read this book and find the texts of the four schools of jurisprudence regarding the prohibition of building a mosque over a grave and praying in such a mosque, including Imam al-Shafi'i in his book al-Umm and others from whom we quoted their texts in that book. After that, a Muslim should advise his Muslim brothers to pray and intentionally pray in mosques free from this sin. And with time, correct awareness will spread among the Muslims, and we will not find, if Allah wills, anyone who builds a mosque and builds his grave in it beforehand and wills that when he dies he be buried in it. This has happened; for example, the mosque in Ba'irah, which you all know, and the mosque that was destroyed in the fire that was here before the parliament—what was its name?
The questioner : Dak al-Bab
The Shaykh : Dak al-Bab. This was where its builder, its owner, was buried. Do you think that if this awareness had been widespread among those people who donate vast sums of money to build a mosque in which Allah the Exalted is worshipped, do you think they would know that by this action they deserve the curse of Allah, that they are digging their graves with their own hands in their mosques? I do not imagine this at all, unless he is a tyrant among the tyrants, and his appearance is that he is a Muslim and that he built a mosque in which Allah the Exalted is worshipped alone, but his inner reality may be contrary to his appearance. And we do not judge inner realities; we judge by the appearance. And we assume good for those who built these mosques and assume righteousness for them, but we firmly believe that they are among the ignorant. Otherwise, how would one of them will to be buried in the mosque if he had heard some of these hadiths we mentioned? And here, on this occasion, the evil of concealing knowledge and the evil of following the people become clear. These scholars exist in large numbers, and among them are those who are called, in the expression of some contemporary scholars, "scholars" in a figurative sense, not in reality. Why do these people not clarify to the people the ruling of Allah the Exalted, that it is not permissible to build a mosque over a grave, so that there is no Ba'irah and its like? If they conceal the knowledge from the people, and if they knew it, otherwise their stagnation in reciting other than the words of the Infallible and their immersion in it with all their being diverted them from studying the Book of Allah and from knowing the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
The Shaykh : What comes to mind?
The questioner : The grave in the mosque that contains the grave of a prophet only is not...
The Shaykh : So, is the ruling regarding the prohibition of prayer specific to the graves of the prophets?
The questioner : Clarification...
The Shaykh : Well, there is no harm. If it is possible, some people, in any case, yes, please, my brothers. The previous ruling regarding the prohibition of praying in mosques built over graves is, of course, not specific to the graves of the prophets; rather, it is a general ruling that includes any grave, whether it is the grave of a prophet or a close friend of Allah. And in those hadiths we referred to, there is one whose wording is from the hadith of the Lady Aisha. She said: When Umm Salama and Umm Habiba came from Abyssinia—they were among the female emigrants—they mentioned a church they had seen in Abyssinia and described its beauty and the images in it. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Those people, when a righteous man died among them—and this is broader than him being a prophet—those people, when a righteous man died among them, built a mosque over his grave and depicted those images in it. Those are the worst of creation in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection.
أولئك كانوا إذا مات فيهم الرجل الصالح -هذا أعم من كونه نبي- أولئك كانوا إذا مات فيهم الرجل الصالح بنوا على قبره مسجدا وصوروا فيه تلك التصاوير أولئك شرار الخلق عند الله يوم القيامةThe questioner : Dak al-Bab
The Shaykh : Dak al-Bab. This was where its builder, its owner, was buried. Do you think that if this awareness had been widespread among those people who donate vast sums of money to build a mosque in which Allah the Exalted is worshipped, do you think they would know that by this action they deserve the curse of Allah, that they are digging their graves with their own hands in their mosques? I do not imagine this at all, unless he is a tyrant among the tyrants, and his appearance is that he is a Muslim and that he built a mosque in which Allah the Exalted is worshipped alone, but his inner reality may be contrary to his appearance. And we do not judge inner realities; we judge by the appearance. And we assume good for those who built these mosques and assume righteousness for them, but we firmly believe that they are among the ignorant. Otherwise, how would one of them will to be buried in the mosque if he had heard some of these hadiths we mentioned? And here, on this occasion, the evil of concealing knowledge and the evil of following the people become clear. These scholars exist in large numbers, and among them are those who are called, in the expression of some contemporary scholars, "scholars" in a figurative sense, not in reality. Why do these people not clarify to the people the ruling of Allah the Exalted, that it is not permissible to build a mosque over a grave, so that there is no Ba'irah and its like? If they conceal the knowledge from the people, and if they knew it, otherwise their stagnation in reciting other than the words of the Infallible and their immersion in it with all their being diverted them from studying the Book of Allah and from knowing the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).