Question
What do the scholars of religion say regarding this issue that in the place Ranghat, a Jamia Mosque has been established for almost fifty years. Now, due to the mosque becoming cramped, some space was added and a mosque was also built there. Now some people say that inside the extended area of the mosque, for nearly thirty (30) years, the grave of Yusuf Mulla has been there, and many people say that the mentioned Yusuf Mulla’s grave is outside the mosque. Even Yusuf Mulla’s brother, that is Yamani Mulla, says that my brother’s grave is outside the mosque.
Now, the inquiry before the respected scholars is that based on the differing statements mentioned, will it be valid to offer prayers in the said Jamia Mosque which is solidly constructed according to Shariah? It should be noted that there is no sign remaining of the grave. بينوا توجروا
Answer
From the form of the question, it appears that the majority are deniers of the grave. And some believe that there was a grave there; the opinion of scarcity will not be considered against the majority. Moreover, even if it is accepted that there was a grave there at some time, due to the passage of time its traces no longer remain, and no one remembered it at the time of the mosque’s construction, then if the purpose was not to honor and respect the deceased and the mosque was built due to lack of knowledge, there is no harm and the prayer in it is valid, because it is in Sahih Bukhari: باب بناء المسجد عليٰ القبر (under the chapter, the following hadith is mentioned)
«أولئك إذا مات فيهم الرجل الصالح بنوا على قبره مسجد اثم صوروا فيه تلك الصور» الحديث
Here the meaning is the prohibition of intentional and respectful acts. Because from the explanation of Jami` at-Tirmidhi in Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi it is understood that around the Haram Mosque there are seventy (70) or fifty (50) graves of the Prophets, peace be upon them, and the grave of Sayyiduna Hazrat Ismail, peace be upon him, is located in the Hatim of the Haram Mosque, yet prayers are performed there
in the following words:
وأمّا من اتخذ مسجدا فى جوار صالح أو صلى فى مقبرة قاصداً به الاستظهار بروحه أو رسول اثر من آثار عبادته إليه التوجه نحوه والتعظيم له فلا حرج فيه إلا يرى أن مرقد إسماعيل عليه السلام فى الحجر فى المسجد الحرام والصارة فيه أفضل
From the above statement it is clear that if honoring and respecting the grave is not intended, then there is no harm in praying. Similarly, if honoring, respecting, or disrespecting the grave is not intended, sitting and standing on the grave, except for relieving oneself or urinating, is also permissible. Accordingly, it is in Sahih Bukhari:
قال خارجة بن زيد رأيتني ونحن شبان فى زمان عثمان رضى الله عنه وان أشد ناوثبة الذى يثب قبر عثمان بن مظعون حتي يجاوزه وقال عثمان بن حكيم أخذ. بيدي خارجة فاجلسني على قبر واخبرني عن عمه يزيد بن ثابت قال إنما كره ذلك لمن أحدث عليه وقال نافع كان ابن عمر يجلس على القبور
“Kharij bin Zaid narrated that I saw that during the time of Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, we were young and we used to jump on the grave of Uthman bin Mazlum, even exceeding the height of a camel, and Uthman bin Hakim said that Kharija took my hand and made me sit on the grave and informed his uncle Yazid bin Thabit that for the person who dislikes sitting on the grave, there is a hadith about it, and the narration of Nafi` is that Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to sit on graves.”
Similarly, it is in Muwatta Imam Malik:
كان على يتوسد القبر ويضطجع عليها
“Meaning that Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, used to lean on graves and also lie down.”
In summary, the worshippers of the mentioned settlement neither honor nor disrespect the deceased, therefore prayer in this mosque will be valid. والله أعلم بالصواب وعلمه أتم
He is the Successful One:
… In the case of the question, the answer given by Fazil Mujeeb is correct, meaning that it is legally permissible and proper to pray in the mentioned congregational mosque in the question. However, I have reservations regarding two other matters related to the grave, about which Fazil Mujeeb has expressed his opinion.
Undoubtedly, all scholars agree that sitting on the grave for urination and defecation is forbidden and prohibited. If that is not the case, then sitting on the grave, leaning on it, etc., are matters of difference. The Hanbalis and Zahiris also consider this impermissible and prohibited, and this is the correct and prevailing school of thought, because the authentic hadiths narrated in Sahih Muslim from Hazrat Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) and Abu Marthad Ghannawi (may Allah be pleased with him), among others, prove without any condition that sitting on the grave is impermissible and prohibited.
عن أبى هريرة قال قال رسول اللّٰه صلى الله عليه وسلم: «لان يقعد أحدكم على جمرة فتحرق ثيابه فتخلص إلى جلده خير له من أن يجلس على قبر
“Meaning, the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade making the grave firm, sitting on it, and building a house on it.”
عن أبى هريرة قال قال رسول اللّٰه صلى الله عليه وسلم: لأن يقعد أحدكم على جمرة فتحرق ثيابه فتخلص الى جلده خير له من أن يجلس على قبر
“Meaning, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said that sitting on the burning ember of fire, which burns the cloth and the skin, is better than sitting on the grave.”
عن أبى مرثد الغنوي قال قال رسول اللّٰه صلى الله عليه وسلم: «لا تجلسوا على القبور ولا تصلوا إليها»
“Meaning, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Do not sit on graves, nor pray facing them.”
Similarly, in Musnad Ahmad, in the hadith of Umar bin Hazm Ansari, there is explicit prohibition of sitting on the grave, and from the hadith of Umarah bin Hazm:
رأني رسول اللّٰه صلى الله عليه وسلم وانا متك على قبر فقال: «لا تؤلوا صاحب القبر»
it is also proven that leaning on, sitting on, or trampling graves is forbidden.
قال الحافظ اسناده صحيح وهود ال عليٰ أن المراد بالجلوس القعودة على حقيقة
“Meaning, Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the chains of narration of this hadith from Abu Hurairah are authentic, and the word ‘jalus’ in the hadith means sitting in its literal sense.”
By analogy, from the hadith of Abu Saeed narrated in Musnad Abu Ya’la from trustworthy narrators, فھی ان یبنی علی القبور او یقعد علیھا او یصلی علیھا, and from the hadith of Wathilah in Al-Tabarani Al-Kabir, whose chain is discussed, قال نھانا ان نصلی علی القبور او نجلس علیھا, building houses on graves, sitting on them, praying there, etc., are proven to be prohibited. Similarly, from the sayings of Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), standing on graves, sitting, walking, building houses, and praying on graves are impermissible and prohibited.
قال النووي فى هذا الحديث تحريم القعود والمراد بالقعود الجلوس عليه هذا مذهب الشافعي رحمة اللّٰه عليه و جمهور العلماء وقال مالك فى المؤطا والمراد بالقعود الحدث وهذا تاويل ضعيف او بالطل والصواب أن المراد بالقعود والجلوس كما فى الرواية الأخري
“Imam Nawawi states that in this hadith of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), the prohibition of sitting on graves is present. This is the school of Imam Shafi’i (may Allah have mercy on him) and almost all scholars. Imam Malik’s interpretation in Al-Muwatta that ‘qu’ud’ means relieving oneself is a false and baseless interpretation; the correct understanding is the general meaning of sitting, as proven by other hadiths.”
Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
لفظ الخبر مانع من ذلك قطعاً لقوله عليه السلام لأن يجلس أحدكم على جمرة فتحرق ثيابه فتخلص إلى جلده خير له من اأن يجلس على قبر وابالضرورة يدري كل ذي حس سليم أن القعود للغائط لا يكون هكذا البتة وما مهدنا ناقط أحداً يقعد على ثيابه للغائط إلا من صحة لا ماغه
“Meaning, it is absolutely clear and known to every sensible person that the prohibited sitting (jalus) mentioned in the general hadiths is the usual sitting, which burns the clothes and harms the skin, unlike the sitting during relieving oneself, because at that time the cloth is removed from the seat.”
And he writes:
ان الرواية هذا الخبر لم يتعدوا به وجهه من الجلوس المعهود وما علمنا فى اللغة جلس فلان بمعني تغوط انتهيٰ
“None of the narrators of the hadith have given any meaning to the word ‘jalus’ other than the usual sitting mentioned in the hadith, nor is there any meaning in any lexicon that when it is said that a person sat, the listener understands that he relieved himself.”
According to the Hanafi school, sitting on the grave, etc., is disliked (makruh tanzihi), and according to the Malikis, if the grave is Muslim and the path is separate from the grave, and there is also a possibility that some part of the deceased is present in the grave, then sitting on the grave is makruh tanzihi. If any of these conditions are removed, then sitting on the grave is permissible without dislike. Some Malikis consider sitting on the grave permissible without dislike, and some Shafi’is also hold the view of makruh tanzihi, but most Shafi’is, Hanbalis, and Zahiris consider it makruh tahrimi.
Those who say makruh tanzihi first interpret the mentioned hadiths and say that ‘jalus’ means only sitting for urination or defecation, which is incorrect and baseless and contrary to reason and custom, as has just been explained above. Secondly, they rely on the following hadiths and sayings:
(1) عن زيد بن ثابت أن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم فهي عن الجلوس على القبور لحدث غالط أو بول (رواه الطحاوي برجال ثقات)
“Meaning, the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade sitting on graves for the purpose of relieving oneself.”
(2) Saying of Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), (3) Saying of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), (4) Saying of Kharithah bin Zaid, a Tabi’i (may Allah be pleased with him), (5) Saying of Yazid bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), which Fazil Mujeeb has quoted from Bukhari and Muwatta.
The brief answer to this argument is that the hadith of Yazid bin Thabit does not contradict our point because sitting on the grave in general is prohibited and forbidden, so this case is even more so forbidden and impermissible, because all types of sitting include this type, which is reprehensible.
As for the sayings which Fazil Mujeeb has written, perhaps it is because these Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not receive the mentioned hadiths and acted according to their understanding. Therefore, reasoning from these sayings in the presence of authentic raised hadiths is absolutely against the principles of hadith and invalid. Moreover, the saying of Hazrat Ibn Umar contradicts his saying narrated with chain in Ibn Shibbah.
قال ابن عمر لا اعلي ارضف أحب إلٰي مِن اَنْ اَطِأ على قبر
It was indeed surprising that Fazil Mujeeb, who is a scholar of Ahl al-Hadith and a respected scholar, despite the presence of authentic raised hadiths, relies on the sayings of the Companions, which is absolutely not permissible according to the hadith scholars or Ahl al-Hadith (may Allah have mercy on them). But our astonishment did not end when we came across this statement of Mujeeb Sahib, where he says that from the wording of Tirmidhi’s Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, it appears that around the Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) and the House of Allah, there are graves of seventy or fifty Prophets (peace be upon them), and the grave of Sayyiduna Ismail (peace be upon him) is located in the Hatim of Masjid al-Haram, yet prayers are performed there. And to prove this claim, he has quoted from Tuhfat the wording which is from Luma’at, which the author of Tuhfat has quoted from these books to refute, and later Sheikh Mubarakpuri (may Allah have mercy on him) has quoted the wording of Al-Din al-Khalis and refuted it. Thus, he says:
قلت ذكر صاحب الدين الخالص عبارة اللمعات هذه كلها ثم قال ردا عليها ما لفظه ما ابرد هذا التحرير ولاستدلال عليه بذلك التقرير لان كون قبر إسماعيل عليه السلام وغيره من الانبياء سواء كانوا سبعين أو أقل أو أكثر من فعل هذه الأمة المحمدية ولا هود هم دفنوا لهذا الغرض هناك ولا نبه على ذلك رسول اللّٰه صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا علامات بقبور هم منذ عهمد النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا تحري نبينا عليه الصلوٰة والسلام قبرا من تلك القبور على قصد المجاورة بهذه إلا رواح المباركة ولا أمر به أحد أو لا تلبس بذلك أحد من هذه الا متوائمة بل الذى ارشدنا إليه وحثنا عليه أن لا نتخذ قبور الأنبياء مساجد كما اتخذت اليهود والنصاريٰ وقد لعنهم على هذا لا تخاذ فالحديث برهان قاطع لمواد النزاع وحجة نيرة على كون هذه الأفعال حالبة اللحن واللعن امارة الكبيرة المحرمة اشد التحرير انتهيٰ
Consider carefully! The author of Tuhfat clearly writes that this wording which I am mentioning is from “Luma’at,” and the author of “Al-Din al-Khalis” has quoted it and strongly refuted it.
Similarly, Fazil Mujeeb further writes that
contains the following wording: وأما من اتخذ مسجداً فی جوار صالح أو صلی فی مقبرة (to) From the mentioned wording, it is clear that if attention to the deceased and reverence is not intended, then there is no harm in praying.
Indeed, this wording is on the mentioned page of Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, but it is not from the author of Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi; rather, it is from Majma’ al-Bihar, which the author of Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi has quoted from Majma’ al-Bihar to refute it. The author of Tuhfat has written the word “Tanbih” (warning) in bold and said it is from Majma’ al-Bihar, then quoted the wording.
Moreover, Fazil Mujeeb’s argument from the wording of Majma’ al-Bihar is also baseless and incorrect because the wording of Majma’ al-Bihar is neither a legal proof nor derived from any legal proof, since it is never proven from any authentic hadith that the grave of Hazrat Ismail (peace be upon him) is in the Hatim or that there are graves of Prophets (peace be upon them) around the Noble House of Allah. However, in Musnad al-Firdaws al-Daylami, there is a narration from Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) which is very weak and unreliable. Therefore, until it is proven from an authentic hadith, relying on it is baseless.
The reality is that the wording of Majma’ al-Bihar contains the odor of polytheism, which is why the author of Tuhfat (may Allah have mercy on him) quoted it and refuted it through the wording of Al-Din al-Khalis. Thus, it is stated:
فمن اتخذ مسجدا فى جوار صالح رجاء بركته فى العبأرة مجارة و روح ذلك الميّت فقد شمله الحديث شمولا واضحا كشمس النهار ومن توجه إليه واستمد منه فلا شك اند أشرك بااللّٰه وخالف امر رسول اللّٰه صلى الله عليه وسلم فى هذا الحديث وما ورد فى سفأه ولم يشرع الزيادة فى ملة الإسلام الا للعبرة والزهد فى الدنيا والدعاء بالمغفرة الموتي وأما هذه الا غراض التى ذكرها بعض من يغري إلى الفقه والرائ والقياس فاها ليست عليها اثارة من علم ولم يقل بها فيما علمت أحد من السلف بل السلف أكثر الناس انكاراً عن مثل هذه البدع الشركية. انتهيٰ
ومن شاء البسم برا التفصيل فليرجع إلى الدين الخالص من
writes:
والحق عندي أن القبر ومحل عبادة ولي من اولياء الله والطور كل ذلك ساء فى النهي والله اعلم
Sahib Sabil al-Salam Arqam says,
قال البيضاوي وأمّا من اتخذ مسجداً فى جوار صالح وقصد التبرك بالقرب منه لي لتعظيم له ولا التوجه نحوه فلا يدخل فى ذلك الوعيد قلت لا لتعظيم له يقال اتخاذ المساجد بقرية وتصد التبرك به تعظيم له ثم أحاديث النهي مطلقته ولا دليل على التعليل بما ذكر والظاهر ان العلة سسا لذديعة والبعد عن التشبة بعبدة الاوثان الذين يعظمون الجسادات التى لا تسمع ولا تضرو لها فى انفاق المال فى ذلك من الحديث التبذير الخالي عن النفع بالكلية
Sheikh al-Islam Allama Abdul Rahman bin Hasan al-Najdi refutes this false belief in Fath al-Majeed with these words,
أمّا إذا قصد الرجل وان الصلوة عند القبور متبركا بالصلوٰة فى تلك البقعة فهذا عين المحادة للّٰه ورسوله والمخالفته لدينه وابتداع دين لم يأذن به الله وان الصلٰوة عند القبور منهي عنه وانه صلى الله عليه وسلم لعن اتخاذها مسجدا
The summary of these statements is that building a mosque near the grave of a righteous person for the purpose of seeking blessings and increase is tantamount to honoring and venerating that righteous person, which is completely similar to idolatry. Because the above-mentioned hadiths fall under the general prohibition of sitting on graves, therefore, this is fighting against Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him), which is absolutely forbidden for everyone. أعاذنا اللّٰہ منه
Thus, it is clear that the opinions expressed by Fazil Mujeeb regarding the grave are completely contrary to authentic raised hadiths, and there is a difference between the beliefs of Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra’y. According to Ahl al-Hadith, the idea of seeking blessings or help from the grave or meditating near the grave is absolutely incorrect, while according to Ahl al-Ra’y, all this is correct. See
, هذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
Issue:… When something belongs to a mosque and is not needed there, it can be used in another mosque, which Hafiz Ibn Taymiyyah has established in his fatwas. Secondly, when this surplus item is not used, it will be wasted, and it is mentioned in the noble hadith of Bukhari:
نهي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن إضاعة المال الحديث
“Meaning, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) forbade wasting wealth.”
As much as possible, do not use it for your own needs; give it to another mosque or use it by paying its due price, and spend its value in that mosque for other necessities like construction, etc. It is not correct to use waqf property for personal use without reason. Many people are careless in this regard and use the waqf property of the mosque for themselves; they are oppressors. هذا ما عندي من الجواب واللّٰه أعلم بالصواب.
