What is meant by leveling the graves in the hadith of Fadalah ibn 'Ubayd?

The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy, our Shaykh. I read in one of the newspapers today that the Kuwaiti authorities

The Shaykh : Kuwaiti

The questioner : Yes, they arrested three people on the charge of leveling some graves in one of the cemeteries, or one of the graves in Kuwait. What is your comment on this matter?

The Shaykh : On the charge of what?

The questioner : Leveling some of the graves.

The Shaykh : Leveling? Ah, meaning: demolishing the structure built on the grave.

The questioner : No, they did not demolish it. They leveled it, and they described them as traditionalists, of course; because there are no graves or structures above the grave in Islam, as this group says. So they arrested them for this reason; because they leveled these graves.

The Shaykh : Yes, the answer is that the leveling mentioned in the hadith of Fadalah ibn 'Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him), which Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih, in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the leveling of graves, the intention of this order is to demolish what is built on the graves in a manner contrary to the Shari'ah; because it is established in Sahih Muslim and others from the hadith of Jabir , but in contrast to this prohibition, it is established that the Sunnah is to raise the grave from the ground and not level it with the ground, but rather to raise it by the amount of a shibr or two shibr. And in reality, the wisdom behind this is very clear, so that the grave is distinguished from the rest of the ground, and thus it is not treated like any other part of the ground. And in that case, the Muslim is safe from contradicting the Messenger (peace be upon him), or rather from contradicting him in a double manner in his saying (peace be upon him): If the grave were leveled with the ground, a person might pray on it, thereby contradicting the prohibition of the Messenger (peace be upon him), or pray toward it. And if he sits on it, he has committed the other prohibition in the hadith: and in other hadiths, although they are outside the authentic collections, they are established that he prohibited praying... So the clear and obvious wisdom is that the grave should be raised from the ground by the amount of a shibr or two shibr to distinguish it. So in such a grave, the order to level it does not apply; rather, this order applies to graves that have been raised and built upon in a manner contrary to the Shari'ah. Up to this point, I think the matter is clear? Let us return to that group of people whom I heard or read about—I do not know—that the Kuwaiti government arrested them. So I say, if they were arrested because they contradicted the Shari'ah, then that is a mistake. And if they were arrested because they did what an individual should not do, out of fear that a revolt would break out among the people; because one person might be zealous for this ruling established in the Sunnah, and another might be zealous for the opinion of some backward or late scholars in the community, and so on. So, to avert fitnah, we always say, and forever, that it is not permissible for an individual—and recently we were gathered in some places with some of the brothers—it is not permissible for an individual among the Muslims to take upon himself the implementation of a ruling that is not within the authority of individuals, but is within the authority of the rulers. And if the rulers fall short, as is the case, unfortunately, in this time, in performing this duty, that does not justify an individual among the Muslims to do this; because it is not among their privileges. If the raised grave were in their own backyard and in land over which only they themselves have authority, then yes, what they do is fine. But for them to come to a cemetery of the Muslims and take authority over it in the manner reported, this is, on one hand, in accordance with the Shari'ah, but on the other hand, it is an encroachment on the rulers, and that is what incites fitnah. And this is my final answer.