Is the hadith prohibiting prayer in a mosque containing a grave authentic?

The questioner: Is it not permissible to pray in a mosque containing a grave or more than one grave?

The Shaykh: It is not permissible to pray in what?

The questioner: It is not permissible to pray in a mosque containing a grave; is this hadith authentic or not authentic?

The Shaykh: These are hadiths.

The questioner: Knowing that the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is inside the Noble Sanctuary.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner: And in the Umayyad Mosque there is a grave, as well as those of Shu'ayb and Abu 'Ubaydah; that is, many shrines contain graves where prayer takes place?

The Shaykh: The answer: Your question has branches, meaning it can be divided into questions. The answer to the first question is: The hadith regarding the prohibition of praying in mosques built over graves is not only authentic, but it is an authentic, mass-transmitted (mutawatir) hadith. Perhaps you know the meaning of the term "mass-transmitted." An authentic hadith comes through a single chain of narration, authentic according to the scholars of hadith; this is an authentic hadith. But if a hadith comes through multiple chains of narration and from a large group of Companions, it is called a mass-transmitted authentic hadith. A mass-transmitted authentic hadith, in terms of its establishment, is equal in strength to the Noble Qur'an. The hadith prohibiting prayer in mosques built over graves is not a single hadith, not a single authentic hadith, but rather a collection of more than ten hadiths. I used to trace these hadiths in my time, and they exceeded ten hadiths from ten Companions or more. All these hadiths revolve around the prohibition of praying in a mosque or mosques built over graves. There is no harm in mentioning some of these hadiths that come to mind. For example, what al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their Sahihs from the hadith of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: When Umm Salama and Umm Habiba returned from Abyssinia—they were among the women who migrated to Abyssinia—and they returned to Madinah, they described to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) a church they had seen in Abyssinia, and they described its beauty and the images in it. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning the Christians . Did you pay attention, O Shaykh, to the end of the hadith?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: The Messenger (peace be upon him) said at the end of the hadith: meaning the Christians , that is, they engraved those engravings, meaning the decorations, in it. . This is one hadith.
The second hadith: Also in the two Sahihs, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, "And were it not for that, I would have exposed his grave (peace and blessings be upon him), but it was feared that it would be taken as a mosque." I hope this phrase remains in your memory, because it has a strong connection to the answer to the second part of the question, where I said, "What if it is the grave of the Messenger in the Messenger's Mosque?" This is the second hadith.
The third hadith: It is in Sahih Muslim, from the hadith of Samurah ibn Jundub or Jundab, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, five nights or three nights before he died (peace be upon him)—the uncertainty is from me—. What does "la" mean? Listen, O listeners, . This third hadith confirms the first two hadiths and adds clarification to them; because some people who are accustomed to living contrary to the correct Sunnah will say to you, "Brother, what do we have to do with the Christians? These Christians, and the Messenger is talking about them and saying, 'Those are the worst of creation in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection,' and he is cursing them, 'May the curse of Allah be upon the Jews and the Christians who took the graves of their prophets as mosques.' What do we have to do with this matter?" This hadith comes to confirm a meaning known among scholars: that our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he narrates to us events that occurred before the Messenger (peace be upon him) and warns against these matters, he does not narrate them for entertainment, but so that we may take a lesson and a warning from them. Therefore, the first hadith came, and the second hadith came. But to address the objection, someone might say, as we said earlier, "The first and second hadiths have no relation to the Muhammadan Ummah." So the third hadith comes, and as it is said today, it puts the dots on the letters. It says, after narrating about those before us, , meaning the Jews and Christians mentioned in the two hadiths, , meaning O people of the Islamic Ummah, . This is the third hadith.
And hadiths, and many hadiths, among them is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), . This also includes those other than the Jews and Christians, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says in some authentic hadiths: , . The meaning of the hadith is: The Hour will not come while there are on the face of the earth people who are monotheistic toward Allah and do not associate anything with Him. Therefore, it came in another hadith, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . So, among the worst of creation are those who take the graves of their prophets as mosques. These people will be, after the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), due to these hadiths and others, forbidden from building a mosque over a grave, and consequently forbidden from taking that mosque as a place of prayer. Why?
The answer: Unfortunately, it is known in practice; because this grave will be called upon other than Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And the meaning of "called upon other than Allah" is that it is worshipped other than Allah. This is a long discussion.