Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … In all three hadiths, there is mention of the Prophet Muhammad’s (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) illness of death, as if he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had come to know that now he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was about to depart from this transient world. Therefore, he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), by mentioning the misconduct of the Jews and Christians, wished to safeguard his own grave from such forms of veneration. The fact that he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) cursed (those who did so) shows that this crime is extremely grave and a major sin. He (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) forbade this for two reasons: (1) to avoid resemblance to the People of the Book, and (2) because it contains hidden polytheism (shirk khafi). Its form is that a person comes for the worship of Allah Ta’ala, but the result emerges in the form of prohibited veneration of the creation, and then the matter reaches open polytheism (shirk jali), just as is now happening at shrines and domes. The same ruling applies to the graves of righteous people and to praying near them.