What is the ruling on praying in mosques that contain graves?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Our brother Mustafa al-Anani from Dammam sent a message containing three questions:
His first question says: What is the ruling on praying in mosques that contain graves, knowing that I live in a country where this phenomenon is widespread? I ask for guidance, especially if the only mosque near me is one that is free of graves?
Answer: It is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Sahih Muslim 529 Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih Muslim 532 and he prohibited praying toward graves. This indicates that it is not permissible to pray in a mosque that contains a grave. If a mosque is built over a grave, or over two graves or more, one does not pray in it, but rather prays in mosques that are free of this, where there are no graves.
If one does not find anything, he prays in his home or with his brothers in their homes. If they find a mosque that has no graves, they pray in it. It is not permissible for graves to remain in mosques; rather, it is obligatory to exhume them and remove them from the mosques. If a person was buried in the mosque after the mosque was built, he is exhumed and his remains are transferred to the public cemeteries, and the mosques remain free of this.
As for if the mosque was the last to be built over the graves, then this mosque was founded on other than piety; it was founded on falsehood, so it must be demolished. It is obligatory for the rulers to demolish it and remove it, because it was built over the grave. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the Jews and the Christians for taking graves as mosques. Therefore, it is obligatory for the rulers to pay attention to this matter in any place, in any Islamic state. It is obligatory for the rulers to keep the mosques free of graves. If the grave was the last one, it is exhumed and transferred to the public cemetery. If the grave was the old one and the mosque was built over it, the mosque is demolished and removed, in obedience to Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
And the Muslims must be aware of this and beware of praying in mosques that contain graves, because praying in them is a means to shirk (associating partners with Allah), a means to shirk with the people of the graves and supplicating to them instead of Allah, as has occurred in many lands. And there is no power and no strength except with Allah. Yes.
His first question says: What is the ruling on praying in mosques that contain graves, knowing that I live in a country where this phenomenon is widespread? I ask for guidance, especially if the only mosque near me is one that is free of graves?
Answer: It is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he 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 مساجدHe warned against what they did
يحذر ما صنعواBeware 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 ذلكIf one does not find anything, he prays in his home or with his brothers in their homes. If they find a mosque that has no graves, they pray in it. It is not permissible for graves to remain in mosques; rather, it is obligatory to exhume them and remove them from the mosques. If a person was buried in the mosque after the mosque was built, he is exhumed and his remains are transferred to the public cemeteries, and the mosques remain free of this.
As for if the mosque was the last to be built over the graves, then this mosque was founded on other than piety; it was founded on falsehood, so it must be demolished. It is obligatory for the rulers to demolish it and remove it, because it was built over the grave. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the Jews and the Christians for taking graves as mosques. Therefore, it is obligatory for the rulers to pay attention to this matter in any place, in any Islamic state. It is obligatory for the rulers to keep the mosques free of graves. If the grave was the last one, it is exhumed and transferred to the public cemetery. If the grave was the old one and the mosque was built over it, the mosque is demolished and removed, in obedience to Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
And the Muslims must be aware of this and beware of praying in mosques that contain graves, because praying in them is a means to shirk (associating partners with Allah), a means to shirk with the people of the graves and supplicating to them instead of Allah, as has occurred in many lands. And there is no power and no strength except with Allah. Yes.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.