Ruling on praying in a mosque in which there is a grave
Q: Is it correct
to pray in mosques in which there are graves?
A:
Praise be to Allaah.
Prayers should not be offered in mosques in which there are graves.
The graves should be dug up and the remains transferred to the
public graveyards, with each set of remains placed in an individual
grave as with all other graves. It is not permissible for graves to
be left in mosques, whether that is the grave of a wali ("saint")
or of anyone else, because the Messenger (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) forbade that and warned against that, and he
cursed the Jews and Christians for doing that. It was narrated that
he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: «May Allah curse the Jews and the
Christians, for they took the graves of their Prophets as places of
worship», 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said,
"He was warning against what they had done." [Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 1330, Muslim, 529].
And when Umm Salamah and Umm Habeebah told him about a church in
which there were images, he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: «When a righteous man died
among them, they would build a place of worship over his grave and
put those images in it. They are the most evil of mankind before
Allaah» [Saheeh, agreed upon. Al-Bukhaari, 427; Muslim,
528].
And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: «Those who came before you took the graves
of their Prophets and righteous people as places of worship. Do not
take graves as places of worship - I forbid you to do that»
[Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh, 532, from Jundab ibn 'Abd-Allaah
al-Bajali]. So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) forbade taking graves as places of worship and he cursed those
who do that, stating that they are the most evil of mankind. So we
must beware of that.
It is known that everyone who prays at a grave is taking it as a
place of worship, and whoever builds a mosque over a grave has
taken it as a place of worship. So we must keep graves far away
from the mosques and not put graves inside mosques, in obedience to
the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) and so as to avoid the curse issued by our Lord against those
who build places of worship over graves, because when a person
prays in a mosque in which there is a grave, the Shaytaan may tempt
him to call upon the deceased or to seek his help, or to pray to
him or prostrate to him, thus committing major shirk; and because
this is the action of the Jews and Christians and we are obliged to
differ from them and to keep away from their ways and their evil
actions. But if the graves are ancient and a mosque was built over
them, then it should be knocked down, because this is an innovated
thing, as was stated by the scholars, and so as to avoid the means
that may lead to shirk. And Allaah is the Source of strength.
Majmoo' Fataawa wa Maqaalaat
Mutanawwi'ah li Samaahat al Shaykh Ibn Baaz 10/246.
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