If the Masjid was old and graves were dug later and someone buried, then it is incumbent to exhume and relocate the bones or whatever remains in the graves to a nearby graeyard but if the Masjid was built later and graves were already there then the Masjid should be demolished.
Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said:
“Those people are such that if a pious man amongst them died, they build a place of worship over his grave and paint these pictures in it. Those people will be Allah's worst creatures on the Day of Resurrection.”
“Beware of those who preceded you and used to take the graves of their prophets and righteous men as places of worship, but you must not take graves as Masjids; I forbid you to do that.”
So the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) pointed out consequently that the worst of all creation according to Allah are those who build Masjids upon graves and he warned against this act of theirs.
Hence, this implies and indicates that if a Masjid is located in the place of a grave or many graves, the Salaah must not be performed at such a place and there is no difference whether it has a single grave or more. Also if there is a Masjid that has been built afterwards upon the graves, it is an obligation to demolish that Masjid. The graves must be left in their normal apparent state with no building construction upon them. As this was the condition of all the graves in the time of the Messenger of Allaah ,(sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) at the graveyard of Baqee and others. The graves should be left in their normal apparent state, there is no construction done upon them, there are no domes built upon them, there are no Masjids built upon them, and all praise is due to Allah for this great bounty of His.
However, regarding a Masjid that is old, and at the time of its construction there were no graves present within it, and then afterwards a grave or graves were built inside, then that grave or graves must be exhumed and dug up and the deceased moved to the public graveyard where there are no domes, no Masjids, and no constructions upon the graves. Then this old Masjid will once again be free from graves so that the people may be able to perform their Salaah in it.
With regards to some ignorant people who stipulate the permissibility of graves being allowed in Masjids due to the presence of the Prophet’s (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) grave and his two noble companions (radhi-yAllaahu 'anhumaa) graves being part of his (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) Masjid, then this can not be presented as an argument or proof, because the Messenger of Allaah (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) and his two noble companions (radhi-yAllaahu 'anhumaa) were buried in his (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) house and not inside the Masjid. But when Alwaleed bin Abul-Malik bin Marwaan decided to expand the Prophet’s (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) Masjid, he included the house of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) as part of the Masjid, due to his intended extension. Alwaleed bin Abdul-Malik bin Marwaan committed an error when he did this, and what was obligatory upon him was not to include the house of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) as part of the Masjid so that the ignorant people would not be able to use this as evidence, and others that may advance themselves with this argument and present similar doubts. Without a doubt the people of knowledge rejected and refuted Alwaleed bin Abdul-Malik bin Marwaan with regards to this action of his. So therefore it is not permissible to follow Alwaleed bin Abdul-Malik bin Marwaan by building Masjids upon graves.
Furthermore, no assumptions should be made by anyone regarding the grave of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) that this action permits construction upon graves or building graves inside Masjids. This is because the house of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) was a separate house separated from the Masjid that was included and made part of the Masjid for the need of expanding it. So the real condition of the Prophet’s (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) grave was just like the graveyard that can be found opposite his Masjid, separate from it, in which there is no harm, and this was the actual state of the Prophet’s (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) grave separated by a wall and barriers.
Posted 1 year ago on 22 Aug 2010 11:18
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