What is your opinion of those who say there is a difference between one who faces the grave in the mosque and one who does not face the grave in the mosque?

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : Some scholars, such as the Azharis and others, distinguish between when the worshipper faces the grave and when the grave is behind the worshipper.

The Shaykh : May Allah guide them.

The questioner : In the first case, they do not permit the prayer, and in the second case, they permit it. So what is your opinion, may Allah bless you?

The Shaykh : We have discussed this issue in some detail in our printed book, which has had many editions over the years, titled "Warning the Worshipper from Taking Graves as Mosques." We stated that the issue differs between praying in a mosque that contains a grave and praying in a piece of land that is not a mosque but contains a grave. In the first case, that is, in a mosque that contains a grave, there is no difference between praying toward the grave, to its right, to its left, or in front of it, whether close to it or far from it. There is no difference in this, because this worshipper, in any of the aforementioned scenarios, has prayed in a mosque built over a grave. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed, in mass-transmitted hadiths, those who preceded us from the Jews and Christians for taking the graves of their prophets as mosques. And in the specific hadith regarding this Ummah, which appears in some narrations in Sahih Muslim, as Lady Aisha said: "He warned against what they did." He (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against what they did. And Lady Aisha said in a narration agreed upon by the two Sahihs: "If it were not for that, his grave (peace and blessings be upon him) would have been made prominent, but he did not do so because he feared it would be taken as a mosque." Also, finally, comes his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is not specific to the previous nations, but to the later nation, the last of the nations, which is the Ummah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) Therefore, there is no difference in the sense that the prayer is not valid in a mosque built over a grave, regardless of which direction the worshipper prays in that mosque. Yes, there is a difference between one who prays far away and one who intends to pray toward the grave, as some misguided people do in the Prophet's Mosque. They do not like to pray in the Prophet's Mosque, which contains the grave, unless they pray in the section where they face the grave. This is worse than that, but all of them are included in the ruling that the prayer is invalid. Here, it is necessary to point out what we warned about in that book specifically, and perhaps in others, that the Prophet's Mosque (may Allah have mercy on you) is not included in this ruling because it has a specific legal status and characteristic: that prayer in it is a thousand times better than prayer in any other mosque, except the Sacred Mosque. This thousand-fold virtue cannot be abrogated by us because of what has occurred regarding the introduction of what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) feared when he specified and legislated for people to be buried in his chamber. This ruling regarding prayer in a mosque built over a grave applies to a grave in open land. This ruling does not extend from there to that land. Rather, whoever prays here toward the grave, that is what is prohibited and what is forbidden in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is a specific ruling for a grave in open land. As for a grave in a mosque, as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said, this place that was built and contains a grave has become a graveyard, even if it is only one grave. Some of the Hanbalis, as he mentions, stipulated that the graves in that place must be three for that place to become a graveyard. Ibn Taymiyyah said: No, this number has no basis, neither linguistically nor legally. The mere burial of one man, person, or dead body in this land makes the land a graveyard. Therefore, if a mosque contains one grave, prayer is not permissible in it. In open land that is not a mosque, it is not permissible to pray facing the grave. However, if one prays far away, to the right, to the left, or in front, there is no prohibition in that. This concludes the answer to our dear brother's question. And may Allah protect you, if Allah wills.