❀ Shar‘i Ruling on Performing Salah in a Mosque Containing Graves ❀
Taken from: Fatāwā al-Dīn al-Khāliṣ, Vol. 1, p. 160
What is the ruling on a mosque that contains one or more graves?
Is it permissible to pray in such a mosque?
Does it make a difference if the grave is in front of, behind, or beside the praying person?
Please provide a detailed fatwa based on the Qur’an, Sunnah, consensus of the Ummah, and reliable fiqh references.
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. To proceed:
Let us begin with the fatwa of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the Imām al-Muftīn, followed by the positions of the four Imams.
Ḥārith al-Najrānī reported that five days before his passing, the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Beware! Those before you used to take the graves of their Prophets and righteous as places of worship. Beware! Do not turn graves into mosques. I forbid you from doing so."
(Ibn Abī Shaybah 2/83, al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik 1/276)
This authentic ḥadīth is reported through more than 15 reliable chains from numerous companions:
ʿĀʾishah, Usāmah, Jundub, Abū Hurayrah, Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū ʿUbaydah, Zayd ibn Thābit, Ibn Masʿūd, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and the Mothers of the Believers, among others.
(Bukhārī 1/422, Muslim 2/67, Nasāʾī 1/115, Dārimī 1/326, Aḥmad 1/218, ʿAbd al-Razzāq 1/406, Bayhaqī 4/80, Sharḥ al-Sunnah al-Baghawī 2/415)
This hadith clearly indicates the prohibition of building mosques over graves, and also applies to situations where a grave is later introduced into a mosque.
➤ Imām Muḥammad (رحمه الله) in Kitāb al-Āthār (p. 45) stated:
“We do not consider it permissible to construct over a grave. Building a mosque near a grave, plastering, or strengthening it is disliked.”
➤ ʿAllāmah Ibn Mālik (رحمه الله) said:
“Building a mosque on a grave is ḥarām because praying there resembles the practice of the Jews.”
(Mirqāt al-Mafātīḥ 1/470)
➤ Additional references:
al-Kawkab al-Durrī 1/153, Marāqī al-Falāḥ p. 208, Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband 1/254, ʿAynī’s Sharḥ al-Bukhārī 4/149, Tafsīr al-Ālūsī 15/231
➤ Imām al-Shāfiʿī (رحمه الله) said:
“I dislike building mosques on graves and praying there or even facing them, because of the danger of misguidance and fitnah.”
(Kitāb al-Umm 1/246)
➤ Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī (رحمه الله) wrote:
“Building mosques over graves is a major sin and a cause of shirk. It is not merely makrūh but ḥarām.”
(al-Zawājir 1/120)
➤ Imām al-Qurṭubī (رحمه الله) said:
“Our scholars say it is ḥarām for Muslims to build mosques on the graves of Prophets or scholars.”
(Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī 1/38)
➤ Imām Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) said:
“Just like Masjid Ḍirār, every site where Allah and His Messenger are disobeyed should be destroyed. A mosque built on a grave should be demolished, and if a grave is later inserted into a mosque, it must be removed. Imām Aḥmad gave a clear ruling on this.”
(Zād al-Maʿād 3/22)
➤ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) wrote:
“Praying in such mosques is undoubtedly ḥarām and invalid. No obligatory or supererogatory prayer is allowed therein.”
(Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 27/140–141)
Some people object using the Prophet’s ﷺ grave inside Masjid al-Nabawī as a precedent. Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله) responded with four clarifications:
➊ The Prophet’s Mosque was built during his lifetime, not over his grave.
➋ The Prophet ﷺ was buried in his home, not in the mosque.
➌ The room was added to the mosque in 94 AH, without the consensus of the Companions.
➍ The grave was enclosed by three walls at an angle, so no one prays directly facing it.
Building mosques over graves, or introducing graves into mosques, is prohibited (ḥarām).
This practice is a resemblance to the Jews, Christians, and idolaters, and the Prophet ﷺ strictly forbade it.
According to the four schools of thought, performing ṣalāh in such mosques is either makrūh taḥrīmī or ḥarām, and in some opinions, the prayer may even be invalid.
No distinction is made regarding whether the grave is in front of, behind, or beside the person praying — the prohibition applies in all cases.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
And Allah knows best what is correct.
Taken from: Fatāwā al-Dīn al-Khāliṣ, Vol. 1, p. 160
❖ Question:
What is the ruling on a mosque that contains one or more graves?
Is it permissible to pray in such a mosque?
Does it make a difference if the grave is in front of, behind, or beside the praying person?
Please provide a detailed fatwa based on the Qur’an, Sunnah, consensus of the Ummah, and reliable fiqh references.
❖ Answer:
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. To proceed:
✿ The Fatwa of the Prophet ﷺ
Let us begin with the fatwa of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the Imām al-Muftīn, followed by the positions of the four Imams.
Ḥārith al-Najrānī reported that five days before his passing, the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Beware! Those before you used to take the graves of their Prophets and righteous as places of worship. Beware! Do not turn graves into mosques. I forbid you from doing so."
(Ibn Abī Shaybah 2/83, al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik 1/276)
This authentic ḥadīth is reported through more than 15 reliable chains from numerous companions:
ʿĀʾishah, Usāmah, Jundub, Abū Hurayrah, Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū ʿUbaydah, Zayd ibn Thābit, Ibn Masʿūd, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and the Mothers of the Believers, among others.
(Bukhārī 1/422, Muslim 2/67, Nasāʾī 1/115, Dārimī 1/326, Aḥmad 1/218, ʿAbd al-Razzāq 1/406, Bayhaqī 4/80, Sharḥ al-Sunnah al-Baghawī 2/415)
This hadith clearly indicates the prohibition of building mosques over graves, and also applies to situations where a grave is later introduced into a mosque.
✿ Fatāwā of the Four Imams
1. Ḥanafīs
➤ Imām Muḥammad (رحمه الله) in Kitāb al-Āthār (p. 45) stated:
“We do not consider it permissible to construct over a grave. Building a mosque near a grave, plastering, or strengthening it is disliked.”
➤ ʿAllāmah Ibn Mālik (رحمه الله) said:
“Building a mosque on a grave is ḥarām because praying there resembles the practice of the Jews.”
(Mirqāt al-Mafātīḥ 1/470)
➤ Additional references:
al-Kawkab al-Durrī 1/153, Marāqī al-Falāḥ p. 208, Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband 1/254, ʿAynī’s Sharḥ al-Bukhārī 4/149, Tafsīr al-Ālūsī 15/231
2. Shāfiʿīs
➤ Imām al-Shāfiʿī (رحمه الله) said:
“I dislike building mosques on graves and praying there or even facing them, because of the danger of misguidance and fitnah.”
(Kitāb al-Umm 1/246)
➤ Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī (رحمه الله) wrote:
“Building mosques over graves is a major sin and a cause of shirk. It is not merely makrūh but ḥarām.”
(al-Zawājir 1/120)
3. Mālikīs
➤ Imām al-Qurṭubī (رحمه الله) said:
“Our scholars say it is ḥarām for Muslims to build mosques on the graves of Prophets or scholars.”
(Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī 1/38)
4. Ḥanbalīs
➤ Imām Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) said:
“Just like Masjid Ḍirār, every site where Allah and His Messenger are disobeyed should be destroyed. A mosque built on a grave should be demolished, and if a grave is later inserted into a mosque, it must be removed. Imām Aḥmad gave a clear ruling on this.”
(Zād al-Maʿād 3/22)
➤ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) wrote:
“Praying in such mosques is undoubtedly ḥarām and invalid. No obligatory or supererogatory prayer is allowed therein.”
(Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 27/140–141)
✿ The Case of the Prophet’s Grave in Masjid al-Nabawī
Some people object using the Prophet’s ﷺ grave inside Masjid al-Nabawī as a precedent. Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله) responded with four clarifications:
➊ The Prophet’s Mosque was built during his lifetime, not over his grave.
➋ The Prophet ﷺ was buried in his home, not in the mosque.
➌ The room was added to the mosque in 94 AH, without the consensus of the Companions.
➍ The grave was enclosed by three walls at an angle, so no one prays directly facing it.
✔ Summary of the Ruling
Building mosques over graves, or introducing graves into mosques, is prohibited (ḥarām). This practice is a resemblance to the Jews, Christians, and idolaters, and the Prophet ﷺ strictly forbade it. According to the four schools of thought, performing ṣalāh in such mosques is either makrūh taḥrīmī or ḥarām, and in some opinions, the prayer may even be invalid. No distinction is made regarding whether the grave is in front of, behind, or beside the person praying — the prohibition applies in all cases.وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
And Allah knows best what is correct.
