Continuation of the answer to the previous question regarding the presence of a grave in the mosque?

The Shaykh : Now we need to look at the picture here. This is the qiblah, this is the minbar, and this is the grave. What is written here? Can one pray in it?

The questioner : No, one does not pray in it. No, one does not pray in it.

The Shaykh : This courtyard, one does not pray in it.

The questioner : One does not pray in it.

The Shaykh: All right.

The questioner : It is also small to begin with.

The Shaykh : Be patient. Now, you did not follow your predecessors, meaning you did not build a wall for this courtyard. Is this intentional? That is, is there no wall for this courtyard in reality, or what? Or in other words, did you open it up?The questioner : Do you consider this courtyard to be part of the mosque, or is it not part of the mosque?

The questioner : Based on what we have understood from you, it is part of the mosque.

The Shaykh : Okay, does it have a wall?

The questioner : It has a wall.

The Shaykh : Where is the wall? Here in the picture?

The questioner : Here, Shaykh, you have placed an external wall.

The Shaykh : No, there is a wall on the front, west, and east sides. This means you have made it an entrance, like a road. A person can pass through this entrance, and the mosque would be on his left if he comes from the west, and on his right if he comes from the east. Is that the case, or is there a wall that prevents an entrant from entering this courtyard? The only difference between your courtyard and his is that he widened it more, and you narrowed it more. That is the difference.

The questioner : No, I do not think so, my Shaykh, that the wall... as I told you.

The Shaykh : And then? How does an entrant enter this courtyard?

The questioner : The door leads directly to the street, the main street.

The Shaykh : Answer me: How does an entrant enter this narrow front courtyard in your picture? How does he enter it?

The questioner : It seems, my Shaykh, that it has a path from the wudu area. It looks like the wudu area is outside the mosque, and it has a path from there.

The Shaykh : I do not like this.

The questioner : Because, honestly, I did not examine the area from the wudu area.

The Shaykh : The point is, my brother, regarding this courtyard: First, if it is not accessible and one cannot pray near it, that is a great good regarding not making this grave a mosque. But if it is accessible from the mosque itself, and the door to the courtyard is from the mosque and not from the roadside as you have depicted here, then it is part of the mosque. It is not permissible for there to be a grave in the mosque, whether it is in front of the mosque, to the north, east, or west. The picture is not clear, but regarding the question, the previous answer applies if this courtyard is considered a cemetery according to the madhhab of Ibn Taymiyyah. What does cemetery mean? That there is burial in it, even if it is just one grave. But if the courtyard is considered part of the mosque, this is not permissible in any way.

The questioner : Okay, is considering this courtyard part of the mosque if it is a thoroughfare, which is what I understood from your words just now?

The Shaykh : No, if it is not a thoroughfare. A thoroughfare is intended for passersby. If this courtyard is not a thoroughfare for passersby, but one enters it from the mosque, then it is part of the mosque.

The questioner : But if one does not enter it from the mosque and does not pray near it, then it is not part of the mosque.

The Shaykh : Yes, in that case, the solution I mentioned earlier is useful to us, which is building a wall between the front of the mosque and the north of the grave. This is useful to us.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : .