The Permissibility of Praying in Mosques Containing Shrines

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Praying in mosques containing shrines of the friends of Allah (s.w.t.) is not only valid and permissible, but reaches the status of recommendation as confirmed by primary evidence from the Qur’an and sunnah, the practice of the companions and the practical consensus of the community.

Allah (s.w.t.) Says:

سُوۡرَةُ الکهف

... إِذۡ يَتَنَـٰزَعُونَ بَيۡنَہُمۡ أَمۡرَهُمۡ‌ۖ فَقَالُواْ ٱبۡنُواْ عَلَيۡہِم بُنۡيَـٰنً۬ا‌ۖ رَّبُّهُمۡ أَعۡلَمُ بِهِمۡ‌ۚ قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ غَلَبُواْ عَلَىٰٓ أَمۡرِهِمۡ لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيۡہِم مَّسۡجِدً۬ا (٢١)

… Behold, they dispute among themselves as to their affair.  (Some) said, “Construct a building over them”: their Lord Knows best about them: those who prevailed over their affair said, “Let us surely build a place of worship over them.” (Surah al-Kahf:21)

The context of the verse indicates that the words in the first quotation were uttered by the disbelievers, while those in the second were uttered by the believers.  Allah (s.w.t.) Relates the two statements without repudiation, demonstrating the permissibility of both opinions.  But contrary to the words of the disbelievers which were marked with indecision, the words of the believers imply commendation and resoluteness in their desire to erect a mosque and not a mere structure.

With regards the interpretation of the scholars, Imam Fakhr ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Umar ar-Razi’s (r.a.) interpretation of, “Let us surely build a place of worship over them,” means a place in which “to worship Allah (s.w.t.) and keep the remains of the people of the cave in it.”  In his meta-commentary on Imam Naswir ad-Din Abu al-Khayr ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar al-Baydawi’s (r.a.) exegesis, Imam Shihab ad-Din Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-Khafaji (r.a.) wrote, “This is evidence on the permissibility of building mosques over the righteous.”

Sayyidina ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr (r.a.) narrated through Sayyidina al-Musawwir ibn Makhramah (r.a.), and Marwan ibn al-Hakam, that when Sayyidina Abu Basir ‘Utbah ibn Asid (r.a.) passed away, Sayyidina Abu Jandal ibn Suhayl ibn ‘Amr (r.a.) buried him and constructed a mosque over his grave, at Sayf al-Bahr, in the presence of three hundred of the companions.  This hadits was related by Shaykh Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ishaq (r.a.) in as-Sirah, and by Shaykh Abu Muhammad Musa ibn ‘Uqbah al-Asadi (r.a.) in Maghaziyyah.  The ascription of this hadits is sound and includes trustworthy scholars.  Such an action could not have been concealed from the Prophet (s.a.w.).  In spite of this, it was not reported that the Prophet (s.a.w.) ordered that the grave be removed or exhumed.

It was confirmed that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “The graves of seventy prophets can be found in the mosque of al-Khayf.”  This is included by Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn ‘Amr al-Bazzar (r.a.); and by Imam Abu al-Qasim Sulayman ibn Ayyub ath-Thabarani (r.a.), in his al-Mu’jam al-Kabir.  The hadits scholar, Imam Shihab ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (r.a.), mentioned in Mukhtaswr Zawa’id al-Bazzar that its ascription is sound.

Non-prophetic narrations confirm that Prophet Isma’il (a.s.) and his mother, Sayyidah Hajar (r.a.) were both buried in al-Hijr in the Sacred Precinct.  This was mentioned by trustworthy historians and acknowledged by Islamic historians such as Shaykh ibn Ishaq (r.a.), in as-Sirah; Imam Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Jarir ath-Thabari (r.a.), in Tarikh; Shaykh Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn ‘Abdullah as-Suhayli (r.a.), in ar-Rawdh al-Unuf; Imam Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Jawzy (r.a.), in al-Muntazhim fi Tarikh al-Umam; Imam ‘Izz ad-Din Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn al-Atsir (r.a.), in al-Kamil; Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad adz-Dzahabi (r.a.), in Tarikh al-Islam; and Hafizh ‘Imad ad-Din Abu al-Fida’ Isma’il ibn ‘Umar ibn Katsir (r.a.), in al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah; among others.  The Prophet (s.a.w.) acknowledged both the fact that prophets are buried in Khayf Mosque and that Isma’il (a.s.) and his mother are buried in al-Hijr and did not order that their graves be removed.

With regards the practice of the companions, Imam Malik ibn Anas (r.a.) recorded the companions’ disagreement over the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) burial place in his Muwaththa`.  He cited that some people favoured that the Prophet (s.a.w.) be buried at the pulpit, while others wanted to bury him at al-Baqi’.  Sayyidina Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utsman asw-Swiddiq (r.a.) then came forward and said, “I heard the Prophet say, ‘Whenever a prophet died, he was buried in the same place where he died’”; therefore, the Prophet (s.a.w.) was buried in a grave in the same room where he died.

None of the companions renounced the suggestion to bury the Prophet (s.a.w.) at the pulpit, which is definitely part of the mosque.  Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r.a.) only refrained from acting upon this suggestion to conform to the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) order to be buried in the place where he died.  Consequently, the Prophet (s.a.w.) was buried in Sayyidatina ‘Aishah bint Abu Bakr’s (r.a.) room which was adjoined to the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) Mosque where Muslims pray.  In our time, this corresponds to the scenario of mosques adjoining rooms containing the shrines of the friends of Allah (s.w.t.).

The claim that adjoining a shrine or a grave to a mosque is a privilege of the Prophet (s.a.w.) is invalid since it is unsubstantiated by any evidence and is, furthermore, completely nullified by the burial of Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r.a.) and Sayyidina Abu Hafsw ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab al-Faruq (r.a.) in the same room in which Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) lived and performed both her obligatory and voluntary prayers.  The companions' acknowledgment of this is proof of their unanimous agreement on its permissibility.

With regards the practical consensus of the community and scholarly acknowledgement, the righteous predecessors and later generations offered their prayers in the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) Mosque and others containing shrines without anyone raising objections.

In 88 AH, al-Walid ibn ‘Abd al-Malik issued orders to the governor of Madina at that time, Imam ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (r.a.), to include the room where the Prophet (s.a.w.) was buried within the premises of the mosque itself.  Scholars from among the seven scholars of Madina approved of this, and none of them objected, except Imam Abu Muhammad Sa’id ibn al-Musayyib (r.a.).  He only protested because he wanted to preserve the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) quarters to serve as an example for Muslims to become acquainted with the living conditions of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and thereby renounce worldly pleasures; not because he maintained the prohibition of praying in a mosque containing a grave.

Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) narrated that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “Allah (s.w.t.) Cursed the Jews and the Christians for taking the graves of their prophets as masajid.”  This was recorded in the Swahih of Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari (r.a.) and the Swahih of Imam ‘Asakir ad-Din Abu al-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (r.a.).  The word “masajid” here refers to places of worship; they prostrated before the graves in glorification and worship, like the disbelievers who worshipped statues and idols.  This is further elucidated in an authentic hadits mentioned by Shaykh Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Sa’d (r.a.), in Thabaqat al-Kubra’, through Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Sakhr ad-Dawsi az-Zahrani al-Azdi (r.a.), who narrated that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “O Allah, do not make my grave an object of worship; Allah Cursed those who took the graves of their prophets as masajid.”  The words, “Allah Cursed those …” indicate that taking the grave as an object of worship and therefore the hadits is interpreted as, “O Allah!  Do not let people take my grave as an object of worship before which people prostrate and worship, as others did with the graves of their prophets.”

Imam al-Baydawi (r.a.) said, “Allah (s.w.t.) Cursed the Jews and the Christians because they prostrated in glorification before the shrines of their prophets, took the graves as their qiblah towards which they turned for prayer and as objects of worship.  Allah (s.w.t.) Forbade Muslims from imitating them. However, there is no objection to building a mosque around the grave of a righteous person or to praying inside his shrine, by way of seeking blessings and not veneration to its inhabitant.  Do you not see that the grave of Isma’il in the Holy Mosque and the graves at Hatim are the best places in which to pray?  The prohibition only concerns exhumed graves containing filth.”

It is established in Islamic law that a grave must have been either owned by its inhabitant before his death or endowed to him after his death.  Conditions laid down by the endower are tantamount to rulings laid down by the legislator, and so it is impermissible to use the grave for any other purpose.

The sanctity of the deceased is very important.  Islam forbids violating the sanctity of the dead and renders it impermissible to exhume their graves, since the sanctity of the dead is tantamount to the sanctity of the living.  If the inhabitant of a grave is one of the pious friends of Allah (s.w.t.), then it is even more prohibited and a greater crime to disinter or remove his grave.  This is because they are of great importance in the Sight of Allah (s.w.t.) and consequently whoever violates their graves will be subject to Allah’s (s.w.t.) Punishment.  Concerning this issue, Abu Hurayrah (r.a.) narrated the following hadits qudsi, “I will Declare War against whoever is hostile to a friend of Mine.”  This was recorded by Imam al-Bukhari (r.a.).