Is it permissible to pray in mosques that contain shrines of the Companions?
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The questioner : Is it permissible to pray in mosques that contain shrines of the Companions?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, the original principle is that the entire surface of the earth is a place for prayer, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 567Sahih (Darussalam) except for what the Shari'ah indicates is prohibited, such as the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Abu Mirdad al-Ghunawi: Sunan an-Nasa'i 760Sahih (Darussalam) And among this is what came in al-Tirmidhi: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 317Sahih (Darussalam) Based on this, regarding these mosques that contain shrines, we need to clarify two matters:
The first matter: Is it true that this mosque contains the shrine of this Companion? This requires clear evidence to establish that.
Second: What is this shrine? Is it a grave, or did the Companion pray in it once? If it means that the Companion prayed in it once, then this does not invalidate the prayer in this mosque, nor does it require the demolition of that mosque. However, if it is intended that there is a grave of one of the Companions in this mosque, then it is obligatory to demolish the mosque, because it is not permissible to build mosques over graves, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And he said: Sunan an-Nasa'i 703Sahih (Darussalam) So if it is established that this mosque contains the grave of any person, then it is obligatory to demolish that mosque and establish another mosque that does not contain a grave, whether it is around this one or far from it; the important thing is that it does not contain the grave.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, the original principle is that the entire surface of the earth is a place for prayer, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
the earth has been made for me a place of worship and a means of purification.
جعلت لي الأرض مسجداً وطهوراًDo not pray toward graves
لا تصلوا إلى القبورAll of the earth is a Masjid except for the graveyard and the washroom.
الأرض كلها مسجد إلا المقبرة والحمامThe first matter: Is it true that this mosque contains the shrine of this Companion? This requires clear evidence to establish that.
Second: What is this shrine? Is it a grave, or did the Companion pray in it once? If it means that the Companion prayed in it once, then this does not invalidate the prayer in this mosque, nor does it require the demolition of that mosque. However, if it is intended that there is a grave of one of the Companions in this mosque, then it is obligatory to demolish the mosque, because it is not permissible to build mosques over graves, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Do not take the mosques as graves
لا تتخذوا المساجد قبوراMay Allah curse the Jews and Christians, for they took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.
لعنة الله على اليهود والنصارى اتخذوا قبور أنبيائهم مساجدThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.