Explaining the warning of the wise Lawgiver against building mosques on graves, and explaining the harms that result from this.

The Shaykh : The point is: Since worshipping Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is among the greatest of things, and calling upon Him in times of distress rather than other false objects of worship is a major aspect of it, it was wise to place barriers and set a flag between the Muslims and what might lead them to calling upon other than Allah, or even worshipping other than Allah. Among this is that the wise Lawgiver, through the tongue of His noble Prophet, forbade the Muslims from building mosques on graves. He forbade the Muslims from building mosques on graves. Why? He said (Mighty and Majestic): . Today, with great regret, we see many mosques, built in the past or recently, on the graves of some who are thought to be among the righteous. It may be so, and it may not be; that is a matter that does not concern us. But with time, the person buried in the mosque becomes a close friend of Allah who is worshipped besides Allah—here is the point now. Many people, when we say "worshipped besides Allah," reject this expression; they reject this word. They say to you: "No one worships him." But they see and hear with their ears that this buried person, this dead man—whether he is a Prophet, a close friend of Allah, or a righteous person—anyone who is buried, they see and hear that he is called upon besides Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). But they do not realize that in their calling upon this dead man besides Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), they have fallen into shirk (associating partners with Allah), specifically shirk al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship), shirk of worship. They called upon other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: . So if a Muslim stands in one of the mosques and says: "O Master Ahmad, extend to me, give to me, I am poor, I am sick, my son, my daughter," and so on; in the language of the Shari'ah, we can say with complete frankness: he worshipped this buried person besides Allah. How? He did not prostrate, he did not bow, he did not pray to him. It is enough that he called upon him besides Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
Because of these many evils that are witnessed in the mosques of Muslims today in many lands of Islam, where people are called upon besides Allah, vows are made to them besides Allah, and animals are slaughtered for them besides Allah. And whoever slaughters for other than Allah is cursed by the explicit text of the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him). Why? Because slaughtering is an act of worship. Therefore, He said (Mighty and Majestic): . My prayer that I perform is for Allah, and my sacrifice; that is, my slaughtered animal is for Allah. How many sacrifices today are offered in various Islamic lands? There, in Syria, for "Master Abdul Qadir al-Jilani"; there, in Egypt, for example, for "Lady Zaynab," for "Master Husayn." I do not know what you have here? "Prophet Joshua."

The questioner : "Shu'ayb."

The Shaykh : "Prophet Shu'ayb," and so on. You hardly find an Islamic land that is free from such acts of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and idolatry. And where? In the houses of Allah, in the mosques of Allah that were built for the worship of Allah alone, having no partner. Therefore, it was part of the complete clarification of the truth of what came in the Qur'an in describing our Prophet (may the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him) as being merciful and compassionate to the believers, that he placed strong barriers and obstacles between us, the believers in Allah and His Messenger, and falling into shirk (associating partners with Allah) whether we realize it or not, whether we are aware of it or not. Among this is that he (may the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade us from building mosques on graves. He said: . This is in "Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim." Also, in "the two Sahihs," it is narrated that Umm Salama and Umm Habiba, the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when they returned from Abyssinia, mentioned 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 said (may the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him): .
Therefore, he (peace be upon him) warned us from falling into what those before us from among mankind fell into. He said, among what he said in those hadiths that were previously mentioned during the speech: , and those who take the graves of their Prophets as mosques. Therefore, it is from the Sunnah (recommended practice) that graves be far from houses, and indeed far from the mosque. You know that the Messenger (peace be upon him) used to go out from his house to al-Baqi' to greet them and seek forgiveness for them. The worst thing is for a cemetery to be next to the mosque, if the cemetery, or even part of it, is in the direction of the qiblah (the direction of prayer). In that case, a problem arises, which is praying toward the graves. And he (peace be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: . This hadith combines two legal rulings. One is honoring the dead; so it is not trampled or insulted. He said: . The other is not honoring the dead with what is not permissible except for Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), which is the prohibition of praying toward the grave. . Some might say: if the cemetery is in the qiblah of the mosque, and there is a wall like this between the cemetery and the mosque, then this is a separator. We say: Yes, it is a separator. But Imam Ahmad, the Imam of the Sunnah, out of his eagerness to keep the Muslims away from imitating the disbelievers and prostrating to graves, said: The wall that was built for the mosque belongs to the mosque. As for the graves, if they are in the qiblah of the mosque, it is necessary to build a second wall to separate the wall of the mosque from the cemetery, so that the Muslim, at that time, has cut off the connection during his worship and prostration to his Lord, so that he does not face a dead person buried in the ground.
This is something that helps the current time to remind people of it. And I thank Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that your mosque is far from this problem, as long as the cemetery is in the western direction. But it would be better, if it were in your hands, if you were the ones who built this mosque, that it be far from the cemetery; so that a person is not exposed to visiting the graves and calling for aid from them besides Allah for the slightest occasion. And we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to make us understand pure tawhid (the oneness of Allah) with its known categories among the scholars of Muslims, so that we may be saved by it on the Day of Judgment, the day when wealth and children will not benefit, except those who come to Allah with a sound heart. And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.