The Reasons for the Prohibition of Making Graves into Mosques

Question:
The questioner asks Your Eminence about the mosques that contain graves?

Answer:
Mosques that contain graves are not to be prayed in; because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And because of his saying -may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him-: Thus he said -may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him- forbidding them from making them mosques, and he censured the past peoples who did this matter. He said -may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him-: Meaning: Among the people are the Jews and the Christians and others Meaning: They pray at them, they pray around them So the prohibition of them is from three aspects: From the aspect of censuring the past peoples for doing it. And from the aspect of his saying: And from the aspect of his saying: .
Three, the three aspects are all places of prohibition, warning, so it is not permissible for Muslims to build a dome over graves, nor a mosque, nor to pray at the grave, neither obligatory nor voluntary, except the funeral prayer. When someone dies, and they are present at the grave, and some people pray over him; there is no harm. Or they pray over him at the grave, there is no harm. Or one who did not attend prays over the grave, there is no harm, before a month has passed, or when a month has passed; there is no harm. Meaning: He prays over him until a month has passed, and what is around it.
So the result is: That prayer in the cemetery is not permissible, and building over graves is not permissible, neither a mosque nor anything else. And what has occurred in some cities and some countries of building over graves is all wrong, all an error.
And it is obligatory upon the Muslim rulers to remove that, to remove the building over graves, and to prevent people from supplicating to the dead and seeking aid from the dead, and making vows to them. This is shirk (associating partners with Allah). That one comes to the dead and says: O my master, cure my sick one, or help me, or fulfill my need, or inform me about what has passed regarding such and such. This is major shirk; because no one knows the unseen except Allah. The dead do not know the unseen, nor do they fulfill needs. They are bound by their deeds. So the one who asks them to fulfill a need, to cure the sick, or to give victory over the enemies, has committed a great evil and major shirk. Allah says: [Al-Jinn:18] And He says, Exalted is He: [Fatir:13] The qatmīr: The covering on the kernel [Fatir:14] He named it: Shirk [Fatir:14] .
So He informed us, Exalted is He, that the dead do not hear our supplication, and so do the idols, trees, and stones [Fatir:14] By way of hypothesis They have no power With this matter they deny it and disavow it. And He says, Exalted is He: [Al-Mu'minun:117] He named them: Disbelievers. And he said : [Yunus:18] Allah refuted them by His saying: [Yunus:18] He named their action: Shirk. And he said in the beginning of Surah Al-Zumar: [Al-Zumar:3] He named them: Liars, disbelievers; because the dead do not bring nearness to Allah. The dead are bound by their deeds: [Al-Tur:21] They do not possess anything for their supplicant. They do not bring him near to Allah when he calls them, nor do they help him, nor do they cure his sick. He said, Exalted is He: And they are not able to give them victory, nor can they give themselves victory [Al-A'raf:192].
So the dead do not possess anything for their supplicant, nor are they able to give victory to their supplicant, nor victory to themselves. So how are they called upon with Allah? How is aid sought from them? And the idols, whether of stone or otherwise, are even more so; they do not hear, nor do they possess anything. They are deaf and dumb, they do not hear. So it is with the trees, so it is with the stones, so it is with the planets and stars, so it is with the sun and the moon. All of them are not to be worshipped besides Allah. Whoever worships them besides Allah has associated partners with Allah.
And what occurs in some cities of supplicating to the dead, such as supplicating to al-Badawi, or al-Husayn, or Shaykh Abdul Qadir, or Abu Hanifah, or al-Shafi'i -may Allah have mercy on them both-, or others, is all shirk. This is invalid.
Al-Husayn is innocent of whoever worshipped him, and so is Ali innocent of whoever worshipped him, and so are the rest of the prophets and the righteous. The rest of the righteous are innocent of whoever worshipped them, and so are the prophets innocent of whoever worshipped them. Our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is innocent of whoever worshipped him, and so are all the prophets innocent of whoever worshipped them. And so are the righteous, such as: Ali , such as: al-Husayn, such as: al-Hasan, such as: Nafisa, such as: Zaynab. All of them are innocent of whoever worshipped them besides Allah. They are not pleased with that, and their worship is shirk with Allah . And so are Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, and Imam Abu Hanifah. They are innocent of whoever worshipped them besides Allah, and their worship is shirk with Allah. Whoever calls them, or seeks aid from them, or makes vows to them, or asks them to cure the sick; has associated partners with Allah.
And so is it with whoever calls upon other dead people, in any country, in the Arabian Peninsula, or in Egypt, or in Sham, or in Iraq, or in Africa, or in America, or anywhere. It is never permissible to worship other than Allah. Worship is the right of Allah alone. He says, Exalted is He: [Al-Isra:23] Meaning: He commanded and advised. And He says, Exalted is He: [Al-Bayyinah:5] Meaning: The people [Al-Bayyinah:5] And he said : [Al-Baqarah:21] And He said -Exalted and Majestic is He-: [An-Nahl:36] And He says, Exalted is He: [An-Nisa:36] And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And He said -Exalted and Majestic is He- in His great Book: [Al-Jinn:18].
So it is obligatory upon all Muslims to advise one another to truth, and to warn against this shirk. And it is obligatory upon the scholars, wherever they are, to fear Allah, and to teach people the religion of Allah, and the oneness of Allah, and to warn them from worshipping graves, and the people of graves, or worshipping idols, trees, stones, or stars, or anything else. This is the duty of the scholars in every city, and in every country, and in every state. It is obligatory upon the scholars to teach people, to guide people to the oneness of Allah.
So worship is the right of Allah. He is the one who is called upon: O Lord, forgive me, O Lord, help me, O Lord, cure my sick one, O Allah, O Merciful, O Compassionate, You are the owner of everything, You are the Able to do everything. As for saying: O my master, O Abdul Qadir, or O my master, al-Husayn, or O my master, al-Badawi, cure my sick one, this is major shirk. Or O so-and-so, or O my master, Abdul Qadir, or O my master, Abu Hanifah, or so-and-so, this is all evil, all major shirk. And among the great calamities is the occurrence of many of the common people in this affliction. This is among the great calamities.
So it is obligatory upon the people of knowledge to deny this shirk, and to teach people, and to guide them. And it is obligatory upon the rulers, the Muslim authorities, to prohibit this matter, and to remove the mosques that are over graves, and the building that is over graves, and to leave the graves exposed and visible, like the graves in al-Baqi' which are exposed, as they were in the time of the Prophet -may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him- and the time of the Companions, exposed with no building over them, no mosque nor anything else. This is the duty of Muslims in every place, in the Islamic states, and in others.
It is obligatory that the graves be exposed, with no building over them. And it is not permissible to worship with Allah, nor to call upon with Allah, nor to seek aid from them, nor to circumambulate them, nor to stay at them, nor to pray at them. But they are visited. The grave of a Muslim is visited, one greets him, and supplicates for him; because the Messenger said -may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him-: And he -may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him- taught his Companions when they visited the graves to say: , and when he visited the graves, the graves of Madinah, he said: .
Thus the Prophet taught his Companions, and he did -may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him- he visited, and supplicated for the dead, for the deceased. Follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Such is this supplication for the dead.
As for if the dead are disbelievers, and he visits them, he does not supplicate for them, but for the lesson, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) visited the grave of his mother, and did not seek forgiveness for her, Allah forbade him to seek forgiveness for her. But he visited her for the lesson. So if the graves of disbelievers, Christians and others, he passes by them, and stops for the lesson, so that he remembers the Hereafter... he remembers death... he remembers the Fire and Paradise for the lesson, there is no harm. He visits them for the lesson, he does not greet, and does not supplicate. As for the graves of Muslims, he greets them, and supplicates for them.
May Allah guide everyone, and guide all Muslims to what pleases Him, guide them in the religion, and guide the scholars of Muslims to everything that is in the welfare of Muslims and the purity of the conscience, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and his family and his Companions.

The presenter : O Allah, send blessings and peace upon the best of Your creation, Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and peace be upon them. May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.