A place that has nothing but a mosque containing a grave: should the Friday prayer be left?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
From the Yemeni Republic, the listener: 'Abd al-Ahmad Bu 'Uskar, from the Hadramawt Governorate, the city of Al-Qatn. He sent a question saying: I moved from the village for work in a desert area for several months. Near this place, there was a village with a mosque, and inside it was a grave. At first, I used to go to this village for the Friday prayer because it was the only one near us. But when it became clear that the mosque contained a grave, I stopped praying there. My work in this place has been long, and I have not been praying the Friday prayer, although I perform all the other obligatory prayers in full. Do I have a sin for leaving the prayer for this entire period—meaning the Friday prayer? May Allah reward you with good?
Answer:
There is no blame on you; because mosques that contain graves are not to be prayed in. You must make up the prayers you performed in this mosque that has the grave. You must repeat your prayers, repeating them as the midday prayer, and pray in your place. If it is easy for you to have neighbors who pray with you, pray in congregation. It is obligatory for you to pray in congregation. So, strive to gather with your neighbors and pray in congregation in one of your houses, or in a mosque you establish that is free from graves. You must advise the people of the mosque. You and your good brothers should gather with those responsible for the mosque so that the grave is removed from the mosque, so that it is moved to the cemetery. It should be dug up and moved to the cemetery, so that the mosque remains free from graves. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih Muslim 529 And he said—(peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Muslim 532 So he forbade them from making them mosques.
And 'Umar saw Anas intending to pray around a grave, so 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "The grave! The grave!" He alerted him that there was a grave there so that he would not pray around it.
The point is: that prayer in mosques that contain graves, or prayer between graves, or in the cemetery altogether, is invalid.
It is obligatory for Muslims to be cautious of this, and for their mosques to be free from graves. It is obligatory for scholars to alert people. It is obligatory for scholars in every place and in every country to alert people to this, so that the graves are safe, and so that the mosques are safe from the presence of graves. Every mosque that has a grave: the grave must be dug up and removed from the mosque, unless the mosque was built on top of it, and the graves were prior, and the mosque was built on the graves; in that case, it is demolished, and the graves remain as they are.
As for if the mosque is the old one, and then a scholar or someone else was buried in it; then it is obligatory to dig it up and move his remains to the public cemetery in a special pit whose surface is leveled like the other graves, so that the mosque remains free, and so that Muslims can pray in it.
This is the obligation upon the rulers and scholars to pay attention to this matter, and not to be lenient in it; because this is from the apparent rituals that must be cared for. May Allah guide everyone. We ask Allah for guidance for everyone.
The presenter : O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
From the Yemeni Republic, the listener: 'Abd al-Ahmad Bu 'Uskar, from the Hadramawt Governorate, the city of Al-Qatn. He sent a question saying: I moved from the village for work in a desert area for several months. Near this place, there was a village with a mosque, and inside it was a grave. At first, I used to go to this village for the Friday prayer because it was the only one near us. But when it became clear that the mosque contained a grave, I stopped praying there. My work in this place has been long, and I have not been praying the Friday prayer, although I perform all the other obligatory prayers in full. Do I have a sin for leaving the prayer for this entire period—meaning the Friday prayer? May Allah reward you with good?
Answer:
There is no blame on you; because mosques that contain graves are not to be prayed in. You must make up the prayers you performed in this mosque that has the grave. You must repeat your prayers, repeating them as the midday prayer, and pray in your place. If it is easy for you to have neighbors who pray with you, pray in congregation. It is obligatory for you to pray in congregation. So, strive to gather with your neighbors and pray in congregation in one of your houses, or in a mosque you establish that is free from graves. You must advise the people of the mosque. You and your good brothers should gather with those responsible for the mosque so that the grave is removed from the mosque, so that it is moved to the cemetery. It should be dug up and moved to the cemetery, so that the mosque remains free from graves. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians that they took the graves of their prophets as mosques
لعن الله اليهود والنصارى اتخذوا قبور أنبيائهم مساجدBeware of those who preceded you and used to take the graves of their prophets and righteous men as places of worship, but you must not take graves as mosques; I forbid you to do that.
ألا وإن من كان قبلكم كانوا يتخذون قبور أنبيائهم وصالحيهم مساجد، ألا فلا تتخذوا القبور مساجد، فإني أنهاكم عن ذلكAnd 'Umar saw Anas intending to pray around a grave, so 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "The grave! The grave!" He alerted him that there was a grave there so that he would not pray around it.
The point is: that prayer in mosques that contain graves, or prayer between graves, or in the cemetery altogether, is invalid.
It is obligatory for Muslims to be cautious of this, and for their mosques to be free from graves. It is obligatory for scholars to alert people. It is obligatory for scholars in every place and in every country to alert people to this, so that the graves are safe, and so that the mosques are safe from the presence of graves. Every mosque that has a grave: the grave must be dug up and removed from the mosque, unless the mosque was built on top of it, and the graves were prior, and the mosque was built on the graves; in that case, it is demolished, and the graves remain as they are.
As for if the mosque is the old one, and then a scholar or someone else was buried in it; then it is obligatory to dig it up and move his remains to the public cemetery in a special pit whose surface is leveled like the other graves, so that the mosque remains free, and so that Muslims can pray in it.
This is the obligation upon the rulers and scholars to pay attention to this matter, and not to be lenient in it; because this is from the apparent rituals that must be cared for. May Allah guide everyone. We ask Allah for guidance for everyone.
The presenter : O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.