Qur’anic View-Point Regarding Renovation of Grave

It is obligatory to destroy the structure constructed over the grave and after gaining power for their destruction it is not permissible to reinstate them even for one day. 

In the year 1344 AH when the Sa’uds had gained control over Mecca, Medina and its surroundings, they planned a pretext for destroying the graves of Baqi’ and the traces of household and companions of the Holy Prophet (s). By getting verdict (fatwa) from the scholars of Medina they wanted to pave the way for demolition and preparing the minds of the people of Hijaz who were never in favour of such action. For this reason they sent the Chief Judge of Najd, Sulayman bin Bulayhid towards Medina for the purpose of deriving benefit from the scholars of that place regarding this matter. Thus he planned the questions in such a manner that its answers (as per the viewpoint of the Wahhabis) were hidden in the questions itself. And in this way he declared to the muftis that their replies should match the answers which had come in the questions; otherwise they would be called as polytheists and be killed if they would not repent.  

The questions and answers were published in the newspaper Umm al-Qura in Mecca in the month of Shawwal 1344 AH. [2] As a result of this publication, a severe reaction took place among the Muslims mainly Sunnis and Shi’as because they were aware that after taking the verdict (fatwa) even if it was by way of force, the destruction of graves of the leaders of Islam would commence.  

Incidentally, after taking the verdict from fifteen scholars of Medina and publishing it in Hijaz, the destruction of the traces of the household of the Prophet (s) began on the 8th of Shawwal of the same year. The entire traces of Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and the companions of the Holy Prophet (s) disappeared and the valuable properties of the shrine of the Holy Imams (‘a) at Baqi’ were plundered and the graveyard of Baqi’ was turned into a heap of dung which would fill one with horror while looking at it.

Now we will mention some of the questions so that it becomes clear as to how the answers had been placed in the question itself. That is to say, the aim was not to ask any questions but gain a pretext for destroying the traces of Messengership. If the aim was truly conception and realism it was meaningless for the inquirer to place the answers in the questions itself. Instead we can deduce from it that the questions and answers were written on a piece of paper which they took to the scholars (ulama) of Medina only for getting their signature since it is un-imaginable that the famous scholars of Medina who for years were propagators and protecters of the traces of the Holy Prophet (s) and the visitors to his grave would, all of a sudden, accept the views of others and give their verdict for the prohibition of construction and the necessity of its destruction. 

Sulayman bin Bulayhid says in his questions:                                                      

What are the views of the scholars of Medina who, may God increase their knowledge and insight, about construction over the graves and setting them as mosques? Is it permissible or not? And if it is not permissible and is strictly prohibited in Islam, then is it necessary and compulsory to destroy them and prevent the people from reciting prayers near it or not? 

If in one endowed (waqf) land like Baqi’ construction over the grave becomes an obstacle from making use of those sections which are over that, then is this act not usurption of a portion of the waqf? 

The scholars of Medina under threat and compulsion gave replies to the questions of Shaykh as follows:  

Construction over the graves is forbidden. Based on some traditions proving its prohibition, a group have given verdict (fatwa) for the destruction of the same. In this matter they have made use of the tradition which Abu al-Hayyaj has narrated from ‘Ali (r). The latter told him - I am entrusting you with a work which the Messenger of God (s) had entrusted me with the same. Don't see any picture but that you erase it and don't see any grave but that you level it.  

Shaykh Najdi in an article, which was published in the newspaper Umm al-Qura No. Jamadi al-thani 1345 AH, says:  

Construction of dome and structure was in vogue from 5th century AH. 

These are a few examples of the sayings of Wahhabis about renovation of graves and mostly they put forth two reasons in support of their sayings: 

1. Consensus of the scholars of Islam about its being prohibited. 

2. Tradition of Abu al-Hayyaj from Ali (‘a) and some other similar ones. 

It should be known that our discussion at present is about renovation of graves and construction of bower or ceiling over them. However the matter of ziyara - visitation to graves - will be discussed separately.  

For making the matter clear, we will discuss this issue from three perspectives:  

1. What is the view of the Qur’an regarding this matter? Can we derive the judgement from the Qur’an? 

2. Does the Islamic ummah in reality have consensus in its being prohibited or is it that in all the Islamic ages the matter was something else and renovation of graves and construction of house was in vogue during the period of the Holy Prophet (s) himself and his companions?

3. What is the derivation of the tradition of Abu al-Hayyaj, Jabir, Umm Salama and Na’im which the Wahhabis utilise? 

A. Qur’anic View-Point Regarding Renovation of Grave  

The Qur’an has not directly passed a judgement about this matter but it is possible to derive its ruling from some of the relevant verses. The details follow.

1- Renovating and protecting the graves of the Prophets is nothing but paying respect to the Divine Rites. 

The Holy Qur’an reckons the respect of Divine rites to be a sign of piety and purity of heart. It says: 

“And whoever respects the signs of Allah, this surely is (the outcome) of the piety of hearts”. (Hajj: 32)

What is meant by respect of Divine rites?   is the plural of   and gives the meaning of sign and symbol. This verse does not show the sign of existence of God since the whole Universe is the sign of His existence. And nobody has said that respecting whatever things that exist in this Universe is the sign of piety. Instead, it shows the signs of His religion and thus the exegetes interpret this verse as “the Signs of religion of Allah”. [3]

If in the Qur’an, Safa and Marwa [4] and the camel which is to be sacrificed in Mina [5] are reckoned to be the rites of God it is for the reason that these are the signs of straight religion (Din-e-Hanif) and beliefs of Ibrahim. If Muzdalifa is considered to be al-mash’ar, it is because it is the sign of religion of God and stopping at this sign (during Haj) is practically acting on the religion and obedience to God.  

If the entire Hajj rites are named as al-sha’air it is because these actions are the signs of divine and true religion. 

In short, whatever are the signs and symbols of divine religion, respecting them is the source of nearness towards God. Indisputably, the Prophets and Awliya Allah who were the channel for propagating religion among the people are the greatest and the most evident signs of the divine religion. No just person can deny this fact that the existence of the Holy Prophet (s) and Imams (‘a) are from the proofs of Islam and are the signs of this holy religion and one of the ways of respecting them is protecting their graves and their remains and safeguarding them from any kind of destruction.  

Anyhow, the matter of respect for the graves of awliya Allah (friends of God) becomes clear when we consider two things:  

(a) The Prophets and awliya Allah, in particular those who have sacrificed their lives in the path of religion are from the divine sha’air (rites) and signs of religion. 

(b) One of the ways of respecting this group after their demise is to safeguard and renovate their graves as well as protecting their school of thought. For this reason throughout the world, great religious and political leaders whose graves are a symbol of their school of thought are buried in such selected places which remain permanently safe. Safeguarding their grave from destruction is the sign of protection of their existence and eventually the sign of protection of their school of thought. 

For understanding this fact it is necessary to examine and analyse accurately verse number 36 of Sura Hajj. Some of the pilgrims to the House of God take a camel along with themselves right from their houses to be sacrificed near the House of God. They earmark on this camel for sacrifice in the way of God and distinguish it from the other camels by putting a collar round its neck. As this camel is somehow related to God then according to the same verse it is considered to be the sha’air (rites) of God and according to the contents of verse 32 of Sura Hajj   should be respected. For example, no one should ride on that camel and water and grass should be given to her at the appropriate time till the time she is slaughtered. 

When one camel which is earmarked for being sacrificed near the House of God is considered to be a part of sha’air (rites) and its honour and respect is found to be necessary, then why the Prophets, Imams, Scholars, Martyrs and those who right from the beginning of their life have put the collar of obedience and submission to God around their neck and have become a channel between God and His creatures are not to be considered a part of sha’air (rites) of God and their respect and honour not necessary? If really Ka’ba, Safa, Marwa, Mina and Arafat, which are all inanimate objects and no more than stone and mud, are part of the sha’air (rites) because of being related to the divine religion and each one requires obligatory honour and respect, then why the Divine Leaders, who are the preachers and protectors of the divine religion, and those things which are related to them not part of the sha’air (rites)!? [6]

We put the conscience of Wahhabis to justice in this matter. Do they doubt the Prophets and Messengers to be amongst the sha’air (rites) of Allah and do not they consider the protection of their traces and things related to them as honourable!? Does respect and honour mean renovating their graves and keeping them clean or rather destroying and turning them into a heap of ruins?

2- The Holy Qur’an very clearly instructs us to love the near ones of the Holy Prophet. 

The Qur’an says:                                                       

“Say; I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives.” (Shura: 23)

From the view point of the general people who are referred to by this verse, is not the matter of the grave and its renovation as one of the ways of expressing love towards the household of the Holy Prophet (s)? We see that this custom was and is still prevailing amongst all the nations and they think this to be one way of expressing their love to the people in grave. Thus great political and religious personalities have been buried in the church or in famous shrines surrounded by flowers and trees.

3. Renovation of grave and the past generation 

From the Qur’anic verses we come to know that respect towards the grave of a believer was one kind of practise which was in vogue amongst the nations prior to Islam. 

About the companions of Kahf, Qur’an narrates that when their condition became known to the people of that time and they came near the entrance of the cave, they expressed two views about their graves                                                                                                  

“…..Erect an edifice over them….,” (Kahf: 21)

“….Those who prevailed in their affair said: We will certainly raise a mosque over them”….. (Kahf: 21)

The Qur’an narrates these two views without any criticism. Of course it can be said that if either of these two views were wrong then surely Qur’an would have criticised them or would have narrated their action with condemnation. Anyhow these two views show that one of the ways of respect of the awliya Allah and virtuous people has been the protection of their shrines.  

By paying attention to these three verses we can never declare the matter of renovation of graves of the awliya Allah, Prophets and the virtuous ones as prohibited and or an abominable affair. Instead we can interpret it to be one kind of respect to the sha’air (rites) of God and manifestation of mawadda fi al-qurba (love towards kinsfolk). 

4. Elevation of Special Houses  

The Qur’an sets forth one novel parable wherein the Light (nur) of Allah is compared to a lamp which is having a light within it, and this elegant and profound parable begins with the sentence   and ends with the sentence.   

After setting forth this parable which itself is having a lengthy discussion, Qur’an says:  

“In houses which Allah has permitted to be exalted and that His name may be remembered in them; there, glorify Him therein in the mornings and the evenings, Men whom neither trade nor selling diverts from the remembrance of Allah”. (Nur: 36 & 37)

Argumentation of this verse requires, before anything else, two points to be clarified: 

(a) What is meant by   (houses)? 

(b) What is meant by   which has come in the meaning of raising and elevation?  

Regarding the first word, we have to remind you that its objective is not limited to mosques. Instead it refers to mosques and houses such as the houses of Prophets and awliya Allah which possesses the aforesaid specialities mentioned in the verse and there is no reason to confine the meaning of the word to mosque. The whole of this   most common being the mosques and houses of the Prophets and the pious ones who have never been forgetful of the Hereafer, is the centre of Light (nur) of Allah and the flames of tawhid, purification and glorification. Instead it can be said that   here excludes the mosques because a house consists of four walls and surely a ceiling and if Ka’ba is called as   (house of Allah) it is because it possesses a ceiling. But we see that it is recommended (mustahab) that a mosque should be devoid of a ceiling and at present even Masjid al-Haram is without a ceiling. The verses of the Qur’an too show that by house is meant a place possessing a ceiling. It says: 

“And were it not that all people had been a single nation, We would certainly have assigned to those who disbelieve in the Beneficient God (to make) of silver the roofs of their houses.” (Zukhruf: 33) 

Anyhow   either refers to a place other than mosque or it consists of both mosque and house. 

Now it is time to explain the meaning of the second word i.e.  

The word   in the Arabic language means 'to raise' or 'to elevate' and the verse explicitly says that God has permitted these houses to be elevated. This elevation either refers to physical elevation i.e. raising the base and the walls and protecting them from tumbling down as Qur’an has used the same meaning in the following verse 

“And when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundations of the House” (Baqarah: 127)  

or it refers to spiritual elevation i.e. God has given a special privilege to such houses and has raised their rank and position.  

If we take the meaning of physical elevation, then it clearly shows that the houses of the Prophets and awliya Allah who are the true proofs of these houses, are worthy of renovation - whether during their lifetime or after their demise, whether they are buried there itself (like the house of the Holy Prophet (s), Imam al-Hadi and Imam al-‘Askari where their houses are their graves because they were buried in their own houses) or in some other place. Under any condition such houses are to be renovated and protected from ruin and destruction.  

And if we take the meaning of spiritual elevation, then we conclude that God has permitted such houses to be honoured and respected and one of the ways of manifesting our respect to such houses is safeguarding them from destruction and renovating them and keeping them clean. 

All these physical and spiritual elevation is because these houses belong to the divine men who were God's obedient servants and were submissive to His commands. 

Despite these and such other verses it is a matter of shock as to how the Wahhabis have destroyed the traces of Messengership and ruined their houses and have turned into a heap of rubble, these lustrous places where men and women used to glorify and praise God, day and night, and gather in these places and recite supplications because of the spiritnal connection the owners of these houses had with God! This shows as to how they have openly and apparently disclosed their old enmity with the Holy Prophet (s) and his household (‘a) and his sincere companions! 

In this connection we draw the attention of our readers to one tradition.  

Anas bin Malik says: The Holy Prophet (s) recited this verse. At that time a person stood up and said:  

 refers to which house? 

The Holy Prophet (s) said – “The house of the Prophets”. 

Abu Bakr stood and said –“Is this house (refering to the house of ‘Ali and Fatima) included amongst them? 

The Holy Prophet (s) replied   [7] 

“Yes, it is the most important of all of them.”  

B -THE ISLAMIC UMMAH AND RENOVATION OF GRAVES

The day when Islam spread out in the Arabian penninsula and its light gradually spread to the vital parts of the Middle East, the graves of the Prophets whose place of burial were known to the people were not only having ceiling and bower at that time but also a dome and place of gathering. Now too a part of their graves stand intact in the same form.  

In Mecca itself, the graves of Isma’il (‘a) and his mother Hajar lie on a rock. The grave of Danial (‘a) is at Shush and of Hud (‘a), Salih (‘a), Yunus (‘a) and Dhu’l Kifl (‘a) at Iraq. The graves of the Prophets like Ibrahim (‘a) and his sons Ishaq (‘a), Ya’qub (‘a) and Yusuf (‘a) who were brought from Egypt to Bayt al-Maqdas by Musa (‘a) are in the occupied Quds and all of them possess structure, signs and symbols.  

The grave of Hawwa is in Jeddah where the traces of it were destroyed after the conquest of tribe of Sa’uds and the reason this land is called as Jeddah is because of her grave in that place although this relationship may not be correct.  

When the Muslims gained control over this place they never got disturbed and never issued any orders for its demolition.  

If truly the renovation of graves and burial of the dead in a covered shrine is forbidden in Islam, then the first and foremost task of the Muslims of that time was to destroy all the graves existing in Jordan and Iraq and secondly prevent the restoration of any structure at all times. Not only have they not destroyed these shrines but also during the entire 14 centuries they have strived in protecting and renovating any traces left from the previous Prophets.  

By their God-gifted wisdom they took the protection of the remains of the Prophets to be one way of expressing their respect towards them and by this action reckoned themselves to be pious and virtuous. 

Ibn Taymiyya in his book al-Sirat al-mustaqim says:  

“At the time of victory of al-Quds the graves of Prophets consisted of a constructed structure but its doors were closed till the fourth centry hijri” [8] 

If truly construction over the graves was a prohibited affair, then its demolition was naturally necessary and its continuity not justified. In short, the existence of these structures duing this period and before the very sight of Islamic scholars is itself an evident sign of its being permissible in the religion of Islam.  

Islamic Remnants are the Sign of Originality of Religion [9] 

Fundamentally, protecting the remnants of Prophethood especially the traces of Holy Prophet (s) such as his shrine, the graves of his wives, children and companions, the houses in which he lived and the mosques wherein he recited prayers, all have great significance which we shall now discuss.

Today, after the lapse of twenty centuries following the birth of (‘Isa) Jesus Christ (‘a) and his mother (Maryam) Mary (‘a), his book Bible and his companions and disciples, all have been looked upon as a fairy tale in the West. A group of Orientalists have doubted the existence of this heavenly man by the name of Christ whose mother was Mary and his book Bible and described them as a fairy tale like the fairy tale of Layla and Majnun. Why!? Because not even one genuine trace of Jesus Christ is at hand. For example, his true place of birth, his house where he lived in and the place of his burial according to Christian belief are not known. His heavenly book fell victim to distortion and these four gospels where in the last chapter of each of them there is the description of death and burial of Jesus Christ is certainly not related to him and it clearly shows that they have been compiled after his demise. Thus most of the researchers recognise them to be the literary works of the second century A.D. However, if all the specifications related to him had been protected, then there would have been a clear proof and confirmation to his originality and there would have been no excuse for these fictional and skeptical persons.  

Muslims openly announce to the world that: “O people! 1400 years ago a man was appointed in the land of Hijaz for the guidance of the human society and he was fully successful in his mission. All the specifications of his life have been protected as seen in his life without the slightest ambiguity and even the house where he was born is known to us. The mount of Hira is a place where revelation (wahy) used to descend upon him and it is in this mosque where he used to pray and this is the house where he was buried in and these are the houses of his wives, children and relatives and these are the graves of his children, wives, Caliphs and….

Now, if we remove all these traces or signs, then obviously we have erased all the traces of his existence and the signs of his originality and prepared the ground for the enemies of Islam. Therefore destroying the traces of Messengership and household of the Prophet is not only one kind of disrespect but also a war against the original manifestations of Islam and authenticity of Messengership of the Prophet (s) .  

The constitution of religion of Islam is a permanent and everlasting programme and till the day of Judgement it will remain as the religion of mankind. The generations that will follow after thousands of years have to believe in its authenticity. Therefore, for ensuring this objective, we have to always protect all the traces and signs of the Holy Prophet (s) and in this way take a step in safeguarding the religion for the coming years. We should not do anything that will make the fate of Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (s) meet the same end as that of Prophet (‘Isa) Jesus (‘a). 

The Muslims have strived for the protection of the traces of the Holy Prophet (s) to such extent that they have accurately recorded all the specifications of his life during Prophethood, such as the details of his ring, shoes, brush and the signs of his sword, spear, shield, horse, camel and slave. Even the wells from where he used to draw water and drink and the territory which he has bequeathed and still more the style of his walking and eating and the kinds of food which he liked and the appearance of his beard and his way of applying dye, etc, have been recorded and to a certain extent these signs have still remained till today. 

By referring to the history of Muslims and touring the expansive Islamic countries, it becomes clear that renovation of graves and their protection and preservation was one of the customs of the Muslims. At present, throughout the Islamic countries, the graves of Divine Prophets, awliya Allah and the pious people exist in the form of shrines and for their protection endowments are available where their revenues are used for their preservation, etc. 

Before the birth of faction of Wahhabism at Najd and before their domination over the two holy shrines and the outskirts of Hijaz, the graves of awliya Allah had been erected, thriving and worthy of attention of everyone. None of the Islamic scholars had any objection towards them.  

It is not only in Iran where the graves of awliya and virtuous people have been sanctified in the form of shrines but throughout the Islamic countries, especially Egypt, Syria, Iraq, the western countries and Tunisia the shrines of scholars and great personalities of Islam are flourishing and muslims depart in groups towards these shrines to visit their graves and recite fatiha and Holy Quran for the souls of these great personalities. All these holy places are having servants and protectors responsible for maintenance and keeping them clean. 

With such propagation and dissemination throughout the Islamic countries, is it possible to regard the rennovation of graves as a forbidden act when this long-drawn custom was existing and still exists from the beginning of Islam till today and this custom is known in the language of the scholars as 'the ways or conduct of Muslims'? The existence of such behaviour without any objection from any corner shows that it is permissible, desirable and popular. 

This matter is so fundamental that one of the Wahhabi writers too confesses to it as such: 

“This matter has reached the common places, East and the West to such an extent that there is no Islamic country where there is no holy grave or shrine. Even the mosques of the Muslims are not devoid of it and reason does not accept that such an affair remains forbidden and the scholars of Islam have kept silent towards this matter.” [10]

However, inspite of such confession they have not left their obstinacy and say that the prevalence of such matter and the silence of scholars are no reason for it to be permissible. And if a group remains silent due to some reason or the other, another group under different situation will reveal the fact.  

But the answer to such talks is obvious since for seven centuries, the scholars of Islam had remained silent and did not utter a word regarding this matter. Were all of them conversative during this period!? Why at the time of the victory over Baitul-Muqqadas the second Caliph did not destroy the traces of graves of the Prophets? Did he too compromise with the polytheists of his time!? 

Surprising is the reply of scholars of Medina who say;

“Construction over the graves is forbidden according to the consensus of scholars because of the correct traditions which have come in this regard. Thus a great many of scholars have given their verdict (fatwa) for their destruction.” 

How can the claim of consensus be made over prohibition of construction over graves when we see that the Muslims buried the Holy Prophet (s) in the house where his wife - Ayesha - was living. Later Abu Bakr and ‘Umar were buried near the Holy Prophet (s) in the same chamber. Thereafter, the chamber of Ayesha was divided from the middle and a wall was put up there. A portion of it was earmarked for Ayesha and the other portion was related to the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) and the two Caliphs. During the time of Abdulla bin Zubayr, the wall was raised to a higher level due to its low height. 

From then on, in every period, the house in which the Holy Prophet (s) was buried was either renovated or reconstructed based on the special architecture of that time. Even during the period of the caliphate of the Umayyads and Abbasids the matter of construction of grave was in vogue and graves were constructed in every period with the special architecture of that time. 

And the last of the construction over the grave which still exists was the construction of Sultan Abdul Hamid which started in the year 1270 and lasted for four years. You can read the detailed history of rennovation and reconstruction of the house of the Holy Prophet (s) throughout the Islamic history till the time of Samhudi in the book Wafa -ul- Wafa of Samhudi [11] and some other related books about the history of Medina. 

C - HADITH OF ABU AL-HAYYAJ 

Now it is the time to closely examine the hadith which the Wahhabi scholars narrate. Here we produce a tradition from Sahih Muslim:

Narrated to us Yahya bin Yahya, Abu Bakr bin Abi Shayba and Zuhayr bin Harb (on the authority of) Waki’ who narrates from Sufyan who narrates from Habib bin Abi Thabit who narrates from Abu Wa’il who narrates from Abu al-Hayyaj that ‘Ali told him: “I assign you for a task which the Holy Prophet (s) assigned me for the same. Do not leave any picture but that which you erase nor any high grave but that you level it.” [12] 

The Wahhabis have utilised this tradition as a pretext without paying attention to the authenticity and logic of the tradition.  

Our Views about this Tradition  

Whenever we wish to derive an Islamic ruling from a hadith, it should possess two conditions:  

1. The authenticity of tradition should be correct; that is to say, the narrators of tradition should be such people that one could rely on their sayings.  

2. The instruction of tradition should be clear upon the purpose. 

That is to say the words and the sentences of the tradition should clearly prove our purpose such that if we give the same tradition to a person well versed in language and aware of its specifications, he would be able to derive the same meaning as we derive.  

Unfortunately, this tradition is worthy of criticism from both these points especially the second, where one can find no relation with its purpose. 

From the viewpoint of authenticity (isnad), the traditionalists (those expert in the science of hadith) do not accept the reliability of the persons narrating this tradition because we see that its narrators are people like (1) Waki’ (2) Sufyan al-Thawri (3) Habib bin Abi Thabit and (4) Abu Wa’il al-‘Asadi.   

A traditionalist such as Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani has criticised them in his book Tahdhib al-tahdhib to such an extent that it throws doubt and uncertainty on the authenticity of the aforementioned tradition and other traditions narrated by them.  

1. For example he narrates from Ahmad bin Hanbal about Waki’ that:  

“He has committed mistakes in 500 traditions.” [13]                                                                                                             

He also narrates from Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi about Waki’ that:                                                                                

 “He used to narrate the tradition according to its meaning (rather than narrating the precise text) while his mother-tongue was not Arabic”. [14] 

2. About Sufyan al-Thawri, he narrates from Ibn al-Mubarak that:    

“Sufyan was narrating a tradition when I suddenly arrived and noticed that he was deceiving in tradition. When he saw me, he felt ashamed.” [15] 

Deception in any tradition in whatever meaning it may be interpreted shows that there had been no equity, truthfulness and realism in such a man that he has presented the untrue things to be true.  

In the translation of Yahya al-Qattan, he narrates from him that Sufyan tried to present to me an unreliable person to be reliable but eventually he was unsuccessful. [16]  

3. About Habib ibn Abi Thabit, he narrates from Ibn Hibban that:                                                                                                                                            

“He was deceiving in tradition.” 

He also narrates from al-Qattan that: 

“His traditions cannot be followed because they are not firm.”[17] 

4. About Abi Wa’il he says:  

“He is from the nawasib and from the deviators from (the path) of ‘Ali (‘a) [18]  

It is worthy of attention that in the entire sihah sitta only one tradition is narrated from Abu al-Hayyaj and that is the same which we have discussed already. It shows that a person, whose share from the Prophetic knowledge was only one tradition, was not a man of tradition at all. Therefore, it becomes difficult to rely on him. When the reference of tradition possesses such shortcomings, then no jurisprudent (faqih) can pass a verdict (fatwa) based on such a weak reference.  

The ‘instruction’ of tradition is no less important than its reference as the following words in this tradition testify:                                                                                                    

Now we will discuss the meaning of these two words i.e. 

(a).   and

(b).  (a). The word  in dictionary means high and elevated and it has been said that 

      is a high place overlooking the other place.”   [19] 

The author of al-Qamus who is having greater validity in the arrangement of meaning of words says:  

  with vowel of ( ) is named as something ‘high’ and ‘the hump of a camel’. 

Therefore the word ( ) in absolute term is called as ‘height’ and in particular that height which is in the shape of a hump of a camel. By referring to the past, we have to see the objective pertains to which kind of height.  

(b).The word   in dictionary means ‘to restore equilibrium’, ‘to make equal’ and ‘to set right the crooked’.                     

 . He made it straight; Arab says - I wanted to set right the crooked which was not smoothened. It also comes in the meaning of ‘a faultless product’. 

The Holy Qur’an says: 

Who creates, then makes complete”. (A’la: 2) 

After knowing the meanings of phrases and words, we have to see what this tradition means!  

Two possibilities exist in this tradition. We have to select one of the two by paying attention to the individual meanings and other logical possibilities, the first one of it is:  

1. One possibility is that Prophet (s) ordered Abul-Haiyyaj to destroy the elevated graves and level them to the ground. 

This possibility which the Wahhabis rely upon is rejected due to the following reasons: 

Firstly, the word   does not mean ‘to destroy’ or ‘to demolish’ and if it meant so then they should have said:                                                                                                      

Level them to the ground while we do not find such words in the tradition. 

Secondly, if it is meant what they say then why the scholars of Islam have not given such a verdict (fatwa)? It is because levelling of grave to the ground is against the Islamic Sunnah which says that a grave should be slightly higher than the ground level and all the jurisprudents (fuqaha) of Islam have given verdict (fatwa) over this matter that a grave should be higher than the level of ground by one span.  

In the book al-Fiqh ‘ala al-madhahib al-‘arba’a, as per the verdicts (fatawa) of the four well-known Imams (Hanifa, Malek, Shafe’i and Hanbal), we read as such: 

“It is recommended (mustahab) that the soil of grave be higher than the ground by one span.” [20] 

By paying attention to this matter we are bound to interpret the tradition in some other way to which we shall now refer. 

2. Second possibility is that he was ordered to make the top of the grave uniform, even or flat and not like the graves which are made in the shape of the hind of a fish or the hump of a camel.  

Therefore, the tradition is a witness to this fact that the top of a grave should be even and flat and not in the shape of the hind of a fish or a hump which is common among some of the Ahl al-Sunnah. All the four well-known Imams of Ahl al-Sunnah, except al-Shafi’i, have given fatwa that the grave is recommended to be so. Thus this tradition conforms to the Shi’a scholars who say that a grave apart from being above the ground should be even and flat. [21] 

Incidentally, Muslim, the author of Sahih has himself brought this tradition and another tradition which we shall soon discuss under the title

and similarly al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasa’i have brought this tradition in their Sunan under the aforementioned title. This title gives the meaning that the surface of grave should be even and flat and if it meant that the graves should be made level to the ground then it was necessary to change the title and name it as   

Incidentally, in Arabic language if   is ascribed to any thing (like grave) it means that the thing itself should be flat and even and not that it should be made equal with any thing (like ground).  

Here we produce another tradition which Muslim has narrated in his Sahih and this tradition too contains the same contents which we have approved. 

The narrator says: We were with Fudala bin ‘Ubayd in Rome when one of our companions died. Fudala ordered that his grave be made uniform and said that he had heard the Holy Prophet (s) giving instructions for the levelling of graves. [22] 

The key to understanding this tradition lies in acquiring the meaning of the word   which posseses three possible meanings. By paying attention to the legal presumptions one of them should be selected. Here are the three possibilities: 

1. One meaning is ‘to destroy the structure over the graves!’ This possibility is false because the graves which were in Medina were not possessing structure or dome. 

2. Another meaning is ‘to level the surface of the grave to the ground’. This is against the Sunnah (practice) of the Prophet (s) which is conclusive that the grave should be above the ground by one span. 

3. Lastly it could mean ‘to surface the grave and make even the uneven portions and hence bring it out from the shape of hind of a fish or hump of a camel’. This meaning is exact and precise and needs no reason for proving this interpretation. 

Now let us see how the famous commentator of Sahih Muslim, al-Nawawi, interprets the tradition. He says: 

“It is Sunnah (tradition) that the grave should not possess excessive height above the ground and should hot have a shape of a hump of a camel. However it should be one span above the ground and should be even.” [23] 

This sentence shows that the commentator of Sahih Muslim has derived the same meaning as we have derived from the word  . That is to say, Imam al-Nawawi recommended and advised that the surface of the graves should not possess the shape of the hind of a fish and they should be made uniform, flat and even, not that they should be levelled with the ground or that the grave and the structure on it should be destroyed. 

It is not only we who have interpreted the tradition as such but al-Hafiz al-Qastallani too in his book Irshad al-sari fi sharh Sahih al-Bukhari has interpreted the tradition as we have. He says: 

“It is the sunnah that a grave should be surfaced and we should never abandon this Sunnah just because surfacing of the grave is the motto of the rawafid. When we say that the Sunnah is surfacing of grave (having no difference with the tradition of Abu al-Hayyaj) it is because                                                     

The objective is not to make the grave on par with the ground but the objective is to make the surface of the grave flat and even although being above the ground level. [24]

Moreover, if the objective of recommendation was to destroy the structures and domes over the graves then why didn't ‘Ali (‘a) himself destroy the domes over the graves of the Prophets existing during his own time!? Besides, he was the ruler over the Islamic lands and places like Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran and Yemen, which were full of such structures over the graves of the Prophets and were within his sight. 

Forgoing all that we have said even if we assume that Imam (‘a) ordered Abu al-Hayyaj to level all the elevated graves on par with the ground, still the tradition never bears testimony over the necessity of destroying the structures over the graves since Imam (‘a) has said:

i.e. ‘destroy the graves’, but has not said: 

‘There is no building and no dome (dome of grave) unless I made them separate’. 

Moreover our discussion is not about grave itself but about construction and structures over the graves where people occupy themselves under the shade of these structures and recite the Qur’an, invocation and prayers. Which part of this sentence bears testimony for the destruction of the structures surrounding the graves which in fact facilitates the visitors to worship and recite Qur’an and protects them from extreme heat or cold!  

Two more possibilities in tradition 

In the end we are bound to present two more possibilities in the tradition:  

(1) It is possible that this and some other similar traditions are pointing to a series of graves of the past people where people took the graves of the pious and virtuous people as their qibla instead of performing prayers towards the true qibla. They used to perform prayers over the grave and the picture which was near the grave and were refraining from facing the true qibla which God has selected.  

Thus the tradition has no connection to the graves which have never been prostrated upon by the Muslims but have recited prayers near them facing the divine qibla (Ka’ba).  

And if they expedite in visiting the graves of the pious people and worship God near their pure bodies and the holy graves, it is because of the high esteem these dignified places have acquired due to the burial of their bodies. We shall discuss about them later on.  

(2) By   is meant the portrait of idols and by   is meant the graves of polytheists which were still respected by their near and far ones. 

Over here we shall narrate the verdicts of the four scholars of Sunni school of thought: 

It is makruh (abominable) to build a house, dome, school or mosque over the grave.” [25] 

With such consensus existing amongst the four Imams how can the judge of Najd insist that construction over the grave is haram (prohibited)!?  

Moreover, its being makruh is itself not having a decisive and correct reference especially when construction over the grave provides a means of worship for the visitor to the grave of Prophets and pious people. 

D. ANALYSIS OF HADITH OF JABIR: 

The tradition of Jabir is one of the references which the Wahhabis rely on to prove the matter of prohibition of construction of the grave. This tradition has been narrated in different ways in the books of Sihah and Sunan of the Ahl al-Sunnah and in all the references we see the names of Ibn Jurayh and Abu al-Zubayr.  

We shall investigate them by narrating all the phases of tradition with their references and then mention our own views regarding the scale of its competency based on logical reasoning. 

Muslim narrates in his Sihah in the chapter

‘Prohibition to plaster-mould or make construction on a grave’

The tradition of Jabir is reported with three chains of narration, and with two texts. The first one is:      

“It is narrated from Abu Bakr bin Shaybah, (who said) Hafs bin Ghiyath narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayh, from Abu al Zubayr from Jabir who said that The Prophet of God (s) prohibited the plastering of graves and prohibited anyone from sitting or constructing over them”

Here the text of the tradition is indicated to be the same but its chain of narration differs slightly from the first.  

“The Holy Prophet (s) prohibited the plastering of graves.” [26] 

Sahih al-Tirmidhi narrates one tradition with one chain of narration. 

in chapter entitled

‘Abominability of plaster moulding and writing on graves’

 “The Holy Prophet (s) prohibited us from plastering the graves and writing on them, and from making and constructing over them.”

Thereafter al-Tirmidhi narrates from al-Hasan al-Basri and al-Shafi’i that they have permitted growing of flowers over the grave. [27] 

Ibn Maja narrates a tradition with two texts and two chains of narration in his Sahih in the chapter entitled:

‘What it is been said, is about prohibition of building, plaster-moulding and writing on graves (engraving)’                                                                                   

It is narrated from Azhar ibn Marwan, Muhammad-ibn-Ziad said Abdul Wareth has narrated to us from Ayub from Abi-Zubairfrom Jaber that Prophet (s) of God has prohibited from plaster-moulding on graves.

Abdullah-ibn-Saeed narrated us, Hafs from Ibn Jarih from Sulaiman Ibn Musa from Jaber that Prophet (s) of God has prohibited to engrave anything on graves. [28] 

After narrating this tradition, the commentator al-Sindi, quotes al-Hakim al-Naysaburi and says:  

“The tradition is Sahih but not practical because the Islamic leaders from East to West have been writing over the graves. This is a practice which the people have adopted from the past generations.”

al-Nasa’i narrates in his Sahih in the chapter of   with two chains of narration and two texts: 

Yousuf bin Saeed reported to us that Hajjaj narrated from ibn ibn Jarih who said I heard from Abu Zubair who heard Jabir he said that Prophet (s) of God prohibited to plaster-mould or build on a grave or someone sitting on it.

Imran ibn Musa reported to us who said, narrated to us Abdul Warith, who said narrated to us Ayub, from Abi Zubair, from Jabir who said that Prophet (s) of God prohibited to plaster mould graves. [29]

In the Sunan of Abu Dawud (vol. 3, p. 216) chapter of  tradition of Jabir is narrated with two chains of narrations and two texts:

“…..Abu Dawud says: “The Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited us from writing over the grave or from raising it.”

Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal in his al-Musnad has narrated the tradition of Jabir as follows:

From Abd al-Razzaq from Ibn Joraih who reported from Abu Zubair that Jabir Ibn Abdullah said that I heard from Prophet (s), he prohibited people from sitting on grave or plaster- moulding or building on it. [30] 

These were the various forms of the tradition that have been narrated with different chains of narration and texts. Now let us see whether the tradition can be rationalized or not.  

Points of Weakness in this Tradition 

The tradition of Jabir is faced with a series of problems that no logical reasoning can be based on it.  

Firstly: In all the chains of transmission of this tradition, Ibn Jurayh [31] and Abu al-Zubayr [32] have either both come together or at least one of them has been mentioned. Now if the position of these two persons is clarified, then it would be needless to discuss about other people who have come in the chains of transmission of this tradition. Although a section of the narrators are from the unknown and weak still by clarifying the position of these two people it is not required to discuss and talk about the others.

Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani narrates in Tahdhib al-tahdhib about Ibn Jurayh quoting from the distinguished scholars as follows: 

Yahya bin Sa’id was asked about the hadith of Ibn Jurayh to which he said: ‘If Ibn Jurayh does narrate a tradition from the book, he cannot be relied upon’. It was said to him that he uses akhbarani (technical term used in isnad followed by identification of the transmitter from whom the report was obtained), to which he said, ‘It’s nothing… all of it is weak.’ 

He narrates from Ahmad bin Hanbal that if Ibn Jurayh says: 

“..that so and so said such and such then he has narrated a false tradition.”

Malik bin Anas says: In the matter of traditions Ibn Jurayh is like one who collects twigs in the darkness of night. (where his hand will be bitten by snake and scorpion).  

From al-Darqutni, who says:                                

Keep away from the craftiness (presenting the false to be true) of Ibn Jurayh for he plays a dirty hypocrisy. Whenever he hears a tradition from a weak person, he presents it in such a manner that as if it was from a reliable person. 

From Ibn Hibban who says that: Ibn Jurayh plays trickery in tradition. [33]

With such judgements from the scholars of ‘ilm al-rijal can one rely on the tradition of such a person and in contrast to the decisive path of the Muslims who were always renovating the graves of awliya Allah and respecting them, is it possible to have confidence in such a narrator? 

About Abu al-Zubayr’s position, Ibn Hajar narrates the following sentences from the scholars of rijal:

The son of Ahmad bin Hanbal narrates from his father who narrates from Ayyub that he (i.e. Abu al-Zubayr) was weak in hadith.

Ibn Hajar narrates from Shu’ba that Abu al-Zubayr did not know how to recite his prayers properly. Again he narrates from him as such: “I was in Mecca when a person came to Abu al-Zubayr and asked him some questions to which the latter started to defame him. I told him that he was accusing a Muslim. He replied: He has made me angry. I informed him that since he was defaming everyone who made him angry I would no longer narrate any tradition from him.” 

Again Ibn Hajar asked Shu’ba as to why he stopped narrating tradition from Abu al-Zubayr. He replied: “I saw him openly performing bad deeds.” 

Ibn Hajar narrates from Ibn Abi Hatim that he asked his father about the character of Abu al-Zubayr to which he replied: “His traditions are written but they cannot be relied upon.”

Ibn Hajar further narrates from him that the latter informed Abu Zur’a that people were narrating traditions from Abu al-Zubayr and asked him whether he could be relied or not. 

He replied: ‘The tradition of only a trustworthy person can be used as an argument (a sarcastic remark to indicate that he was not a trustworthy person)’. 

This is the position of these two persons who have come in all the chains of narration of the tradition. Is it possible to rely on a hadith that is reported by these two persons?

Even if we assume that others mentioned in the references are reliable (while in fact some of them like ‘Abd al-Rahman bin ‘Aswad were accused of being liars), can such a tradition be used as argument when its narrators are these two people. 

Is it really fair that with such a tradition that is having such a weak authencity, one can destroy the traces of household of the prophet and his companions and find fault with the actions of the Muslims in these fourteen centuries? 

Secondly: The tradition is a matter of concern from the viewpoint of text. This is because of the fact that the narrators have not heeded sufficient attention to memorising its text. And this concern is such that a person loses confidence in them. Now we shall describe the kind of concern: 

The tradition of Jabir has been narrated in seven forms whereas the Holy Prophet (s) has mentioned that in one form. Here are the descriptions of the seven forms: 

1. The Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited plastering of the graves and resting or constructing a structure over them. (Tradition no 1, 2 and 9). 

2. The Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited plastering of graves. 

(Tradition no.5 and 8). 

3. The Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited plastering, writing, constructing and walking over the graves.  (Tradition no.4). 

4. The Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited writing over the graves. 

(Tradition no.6). 

5. The Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited sitting over the grave or plastering and constructing and sitting over it. (Tradition no.10) 

6. The Holy Prophet (s) has prevented from sitting, plastering or constructing over the grave. 

(Tradition no.11) This one differs from the first where in the first form resting is prohibited while here sitting is prohibited). 

7. The Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited from sitting, plastering, constructing and writing over the grave or raising the grave. Here, the prohibition of writing over the grave and raising the grave is added. 

Apart from this, there are some differences and contradictions among the interpretations. In the first case, resting is mentioned; in the third case walking is mentioned and in the fifth and sixth case we find sitting. 

With such problems, no jurisprudent (faqih) can rely upon this tradition. 

Thirdly: Assuming that the chains of narration of this tradition are reliable, it does not indicate more than that the Holy Prophet (s) prevented construction over graves. However, preventing one thing is no proof of its being prohibited because prohibition sometimes is of haram type and sometimes of makruh type and prohibition has been mostly used in the makruh sense in the discourse of the Holy Prophet (s) and other religious leaders. 

It is true that the first meaning of prohibition that is to say in real term is ‘nahi’ which is same as haram and till a proper terminology for another meaning is not found, we can never take it to be makruh, yet the scholars and the fuqaha have not taken this tradition to be anything but in the makruh sense. For example, al-Tirmidhi in his Sahih narrates the tradition under the chapter

A clear proof that it is makruh is the same which al-Sindi, commentator of Sahih Ibn Maja narrates from al-Hakim al-Naysaburi who says that none of the Muslims have acted upon this prohibition. That is to say he has not presented it to be a prohibition in the haram sense calling to witness the fact that all Muslims have been writing on the graves. 

Another proof that this prohibition is in the makruh sense is the consensus of the Islamic scholars upon the permissibility of construction over the grave except that if the land is endowed. 

The commentator of Sahih Muslim in his commentary of this tradition writes: 

“Construction over the grave in the land belonging to the owner of the grave is makruh and in the endowed land is haram. Al-Shafi’i has emphasised upon this matter and even brought the tradition under the title of chapter.” [34]

However, it is obvious that a thing being makruh does not become an obstacle. The fact being that sometimes due to a series of affairs that makruh gets eliminated. Whenever renovation of grave becomes the source of protection of the originality of Islam or the source of manifestation of love for the owner of grave which God has made their love obligatory or the source of protection of Islamic signs or becomes the cause for the visitors to recite Qur’an and invocation under the shade of the structure over the grave than surely not only such benefits (which arise from the construction over the grave) eliminate the makruh element but make them mustahab (recommended). 

The decree of mustahab or makruh changes under various pretexts. It is likely that a makruh becomes good due to some pretext or a series of mustahabi (recommended) affairs become abominable due to some other events because makruh and mustahab of one thing is nothing but expedient for being hated or loved respectively. But these expedients are effective under the condition that no obstacle nullifies their expediences and effects and this matter is clear for those people who are acquainted with Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).

LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF TWO MORE TRADITIONS

Now that our discussion has reached this stage, it is worthy that we examine some more traditions which are referred to by the Wahhabis. 

1. Ibn Maja narrates in his Sahih as such: 

Mohammad Ibn Yahya, Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, Al-Riqashi, Wahab, Abdur Rahman Ibn Yazid Ibn Jaber, have narrated to us from Qasim ibn Mokhaimara from Abi Saeed: “Verily Prophet Muhammad (s) prohibited make construction on graves”.  [35]

Ahmad bin Hanbal in his al-Musnad narrates one tradition with two chains of narration. Here we narrate both of them:

2. Narrated Hassan, Ibn Lahiaah narrated, Baraid Ibn Abi Habib narrated from Naim servant of Umme Salamah. She said: ‘Prophet of God prohibited to build (construction) on grave or plaster-moulding.’ [36]

3. Ali Ibn Ishaq narrated, Abdullah ibn Lahiaah, narrated Boraid ibn Abi Habib from Naeem, servant of Umme Salama: ‘Prophet prohibited to plaster-mould a grave or build (make construction) on it or sit on it.’ [37]

To prove the weakness of the first tradition suffice it is to say that one of the narrators is Wahab who is completely  (unknown) and it is not known which ‘Wahab’ is the narrator of this tradition. In Mizan al-‘i’tidal seventeen Wahabs are mentioned and it is not known that this Wahab is which one of them where most of them are regarded to be fabricators of traditions and known liars. [38] 

The major problem of the second and third traditions is the presence of ‘Abdulla ibn Lahi’a.  Al-Dhahabi writes about him as such:  

Ibn Ma’in has said that he is weak and his tradition cannot beargued upon. [39] Al-Humaydi narrated from Yahya bin Sa’id that he does not count him to be of any significance. 

We shall now pass from the controversies in the sanad and turn over to the following matter. All the historians and Islamic muhaddithun (traditionists) have narrated that the holy body of the Holy Prophet (s) was buried by the approval of his companions in the house and chamber of his wife Ayesha. In selecting the place of his burial, the companions have relied on the tradition narrated by Abu Bakr from the Holy Prophet (s)  that any Prophet who dies in any place should be buried in that very place. [40]

The question arises here that if the Holy Prophet (s) had really prohibited construction over the grave then how was it that he was buried under the ceiling and his grave became such that it possessed a structure. It is a matter of laughter when some of the dry and rigid Wahhabis say that what is forbidden is making the structure over the grave and not the burial of body under the structure and the Holy Prophet (s) was buried under the structure and not that a structure was made over his grave. [41] 

Such an interpretation of the tradition shows no motive other than explaining one external fact (burial of the body of the Holy Prophet (s) under a structure) and if one Wahhabi was not faced with such a fact he would have ordered both these acts to be haram (forbidden).

Basically at this juncture we ask the Wahhabis some questions: 

Is it that only the original construction over the grave of the dead person forbidden and if someone has already made such a construction then is its continuity not forbidden although its original construction was forbidden?

Or is it that the original construction and its continuity both are forbidden? 

If only the original construction is forbidden and their continuity was not forbidden, then the question arises that why the Government of Sa’ud destroyed by force the traces of Messengership and the houses of the household of the Holy Prophet (s) and the domes of his children and companions who were already buried under the structures. 

Moreover, this supposition is against the verdicts (fatawa) of founders of Wahhabism such as Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyya. 

The former says: 

“It is obligatory to destroy the structures made over the graves and after gaining power for its destruction it is not permissible to let it remain and to preserve it even for one day.” 

With this explanation it is not correct for a Wahhabi to select the first alternative of our question. Thus he is bound to select the second and say that the construction over the grave is haram in both the cases. 

At this moment, a question will arise as to why the Muslims buried the holy body of the Prophet (s) under a roofed place. Although it is true that they did not originally construct over his grave yet they acted in such a way that the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) was already having a structure. 

Here a Wahhabi has only one route of escape and that is for explaining the physical action of the Muslims he will say: Preservation and continuation of grave is forbidden when original construction takes place over the grave and if at the time of the original construction, there was no grave then its continuation (no matter if it is in the form of construction over grave) is not haram.

Such dissociation has no reason other than justifying one external fact (action of Muslims). 

Wahhabism entangled in the contradiction between the school of thought and the practice of Muslims 

This point is not the only instance where the Wahhabism has been caught in the scuffle of contradiction between its school of thought and the deeds of Muslims. 

It has been aimlessly struggling in other instances too. It strictly prohibits tabarruk of the remains of the Holy Prophet (s) and say: “Stone, soil etc are of no use.” On the other hand we see the Muslims constantly kissing and touching the stone (hajr al-‘aswad) or kissing the curtain of the Ka’ba or seeking tabarruk from its door and walls which according to Wahhabis bears no result.  

They have prohibited construction of mosque near the grave of the awliya Allah whereas in the entire Islamic lands, mosques exist near the graves. Even besides the grave of Hamza there was a mosque which the transgressive Sa’udis have destroyed. At present the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) is in the mosque and the Muslims perform prayers around there. 

Preparing an argument instead of adopting a realistic approach 

In order to destroy the tombs of the graves of Imams (‘a) buried in Baqi’ the Wahhabis embarked on resorting to arguments and so to speak have found an excuse.  They say that the land of Baqi’ is an endowed (waqfi) land and maximum use should be made from this land and every kind of obstruction from reaping the benefits should be removed. Construction of a structure over the graves of the household of the Prophet (s)  is an obstacle from utilising a part of the land of Baqi’, because, although burial is possible in the sanctuary and the shrine, the same cannot be done under the foundations and surrounding walls. Therefore, such constructions should be destroyed till the enitre land of Baqi’ is exploited for useful purposes.  

The Response and Refutation:  

Undoubtedly such reasoning is nothing but a kind of biased judgment. The Wahhabi judge (qadi) wishes to destroy, by any means, the traces of the household of the Holy Prophet (s) and even if he was unable to find any reason he would still think of destroying them under the cover of force. On account of such a mentality he started to conjure up a pretext and hence brought up the matter of endowment of the land of Baqi’.  

Moreover the idea that Baqi’ is an endowed land is nothing more than an imagination since:  

Firstly, no book that we could rely on, whether of history or tradition (hadith), mentions that Baqi’ is endowed (waqfi). Instead it is possible to say that Baqi’ was a waste land where the people of Medina used to bury their dead. In this case, such a land will be considered to be amongst the ‘properties belonging to no particular person’ (al-mubahat al-‘awwaliyya) and any kind of appropriation over it is permissible.  

In previous times, greed and avarice of the people in possessing the dead and barren land was insignificant and there was no money and power in developing and flourishing them. Moreover, the people living in villages had not yet started to migrate to cities and no issues related to land and no people such as land profiteers existed and no institute by the name of land exchange had come into existence. Thus most of the lands were not having owners and they remained as they were and were counted to be part of wastelands.

During these periods the people of every city, village and hamlet allocated a part of the land for the burial of their dead or if someone would become the first in burying his dead once on a piece of land, others would follow suit. As such, they would convert the land into a graveyard without anyone seeking possession of it and making it a waqf for burying the dead.  

The land of Baqi’ was no exception to this rule. The lands in Hijaz and Medina were not of much value and with the presence of waste lands around Medina, no wise person would have created an endowment over cultivable land. In a place where waste land is plentiful and cultivable land very scanty, surely the waste land (which is counted to be the property belonging to no particular person) will be used.  

Incidentally, history too confirms this reality. Al-Samhudi in Wafa’ al-wafa’ fi akhbar dar al-Mustafa writes: 

“The first person who was buried by the Holy Prophet (s) in Baqi’ was ‘Uthman ibn Maz’un (the companion of the Holy Prophet). When Ibrahim, son of the Holy Prophet, died, the Prophet (s) ordered him to be buried near ‘Uthman. From then on, people were inclined to bury their dead in Baqi’ and they cut off the trees (to make space).  Each tribe appropriated one piece of the land for themselves”. 

Thereafter he says:  

“The land of Baqi’ was having a tree by the name of gharqad. When the people buried ‘Uthman ibn Maz’un over there the tree was cut off.” [42] 

The tree of gharqad is the same wild tree found in the deserts of Medina. 

From these words of al-Samhudi we draw a clear conclusion that the land of Baqi’ was a dead land where, after the burial of one companion everyone took a part of it for their respective tribes and the name of waqf has never been seen in history. Instead, history shows that the part or section of Baqi’ where the Imams (‘a) have been buried was the house of ‘Aqil bin Abi Talib and the holy bodies of these four Imams (‘a) were buried in the house which was related to Bani Hashim 

Al-Samhudi writes: 

“Abbas bin ‘Abd al-Muttalib was buried near the grave of Fatima bint Asad in the cemetery of Bani Hashim which was in the house of ‘Aqil.” [43] 

He also narrates from Sa’id bin Muhammad bin Jubayr that he has seen the grave of Ibrahim, son of the Holy Prophet (s), in the house which was the property of Muhammad bin Zayd bin ‘Ali. 

He further narrates that the Holy Prophet (s) buried the body of Sa’d bin Mu’adh in the house of Ibn Aflah which was around Baqi’ and possessed a structure and dome

All these show that the land of Baqi’ was not endowed (waqfi) and the pure bodies of our Imams (‘a) have been buried in the houses owned by themselves. 

Under these cricumstances, is it correct to destroy, under the pretext of waqf, the traces and signs of the household of the Holy Prophet (s)? 

Let us suppose, just for argument’s sake, that the land of Baqi’ was a waqf. But is there any hint about the circumstances in which the waqf was made? Perhaps the one making the waqf has given permission for construction over the grave of noble personalities. So, because we do not know, we should interpret a believer's deeds as right, and not accuse him of offence. 

Under these situations, destroying these domes and houses will be considered forbidden (haram) and going against the divine laws.  

The qadi Ibn Bulayhid and his supporters knew well that the idea of waqf was one kind of preparing a reason and carving an argument. Even if they were not having such reason, they would have still destroyed the signs of the Holy Prophet (s) because this is not the first time they have destroyed the traces of Messengership. In the year 1221 AH when they gained control over Medina for the first time, they destroyed the traces of Messengership. Later, when they were expelled from the land of Hijaz by the ‘Uthmani forces, all the structures were again re-built. 

Notes: 

[1] Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-ma’ad fi huda khayr al-‘ibad, page 661.  

[2] The late Agha Buzurg al-Tihrani in his book al-Dhari’a ila tasanif al-shi’a, vol. 8 p. 261, writes as such: “The Wahhabis gained control over Hijaz on 15th Rabi’ al-‘awwal 1343 AH and on  8th of  Shawwal 1343 AH they destroyed the graves of the Imams (‘a) and companions in Baqi’.” 

On the other hand, the newspaper Umm al-Qura published the form of questions and answers in publication No.17 Shawwal from the year 1344 AH and fixed the date of reply of the scholars of Medina as 25th Ramadan. It should be said that dominance and destruction of the graves both occurred in the year 1344 AH and Sayyid Muhsin Amin thinks the year 1344 AH to be the date of complete dominance and destruction. Please refer to the book Kashf al-‘irtiyab pages 56 to 60.

[3] al-Tabarsi, Majma’ al-bayan, (Sayda edition), vol. 4 p. 83. 

[4] Baqarah: 158 

[5] Hajj: 36

[6] Protection of graves is expression of love and affection. 

[7] al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-Manthur, vol. 5 p. 50.

[8] Sayyid Muhsin Amin, Kashf al-‘irtiyab, p. 384. 

[9] Refer to the Tabaqat al-sahaba in Ibn Sa’d, al-Tabaqat al-kubra, vol.1 pp. 360 to 503. In these pages we find the specialities and characteristics of the life of the Prophet (s). 

[10] Tathir al-‘i’tiqad, (Egyptian edition), p. 17, narrating from Kashf al-‘irtiyab.

[11] al-Samhudi, Wafa’ al-wafa’ fi akhbar dar al-Mustafa, pp. 383 to 390. 

[12] Sahih Muslim, kitab al-jana’iz, vol. 3 p. 61; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, bab ma ja’a fi taswiyat al-qabr, vol. 2 p. 256; and Sunan al-Nasa’i, bab taswiyat al-qabr, vol. 4, p. 88. 

[13] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, vol. 11, p. 125. 

[14] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, vol. 11 p. 130. 

 [15] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, vol. 4 p. 115. 

 [16] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, vol. 11 p. 218. 

 [17] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, vol. 2  p. 179. 

 [18] Ibn Abi al-Hadid al-Mu’tazili, Sharh Nahj al-balagha, vol. 9 p. 99.

 [19] Al-Munjid. 

[20] al-Fiqh ‘ala al-madhahib al-‘arba’a, vol. 1, p.  420. 

[21] al-Fiqh ‘ala al-madhahib al-‘arba’a, vol. 1, p. 420. Therefore, no groups from the Islamic tradition have acted upon this tradition, except the Shafi’i’s and the Shi’a.  

[22] Sahih Muslim, kitab al-jana’iz, vol. 3 p. 61.  

[23] al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim, vol. 7, p. 36.  

[24] al-Qastallani, Irshad al-sari, vol. 2 p. 468.  

[25] al-Fiqh ‘ala al-madhahib al-‘arba’a, vol. 1, p. 421. 

[26] Sahih Muslim, kitab al-jana’iz, vol. 3 p. 62. 

[27] Sunan al-Tirmidhi, (ed. by ‘Abd al-Rahman Muhammad ‘Uthman, al-Maktaba al-salafiyya), vol. 2 p. 208. 

[28] Sahih Ibn Maja, kitab al-jana’iz, vol. 1, p. 473. 

[29] Sahih al-Nasa’i (printed with commentary of Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti), vol. 4 pp. 87-88 .

30] Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, vol. 3 p. 295 and p. 332, and he narrates from Jabir in the mursal form on p. 399. 

[31] He is ‘Abd al-Malik bin ‘Abd al-‘Aziz bin Jurayh al-‘Umawi.  

[32] He is Muhammad bin Muslim al-‘Asadi.  

[33] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, (Dar al-ma’arif al-nizamiyya), vol. 6 p. 402, 404 and p. 506.  

[34] Sahih Muslim, (Egypt), vol. 3 p. 62.

[35] Sahih Ibn Maja, vol. 1 p. 474.

[36] Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, vol. 6 p. 299. 

[37] Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, vol. 6 p. 299.  

[38] al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-‘i’tidal, vol. 3 pp. 350 to 355. 

[39] al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-‘i’tidal, vol. 2 p. 476 under the title ‘Abdulla ibn Lahi’a; Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, vol. 1 p.  444.

[40] Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, vol. 1 p. 7; Sahih al-Tirmidhi, vol. 2 p. 139; Ibn Sa’d, al-Tabaqat,  vol. 2 p. 71; and others. 

[41] Muqbil bin al-Hadi al-Wadi, Riyad al-janna, (Kuwait), p. 269.  

[42] al-Samhudi, Wafa’ al-wafa’ fi akhbar dar al-Mustafa, vol. 2 p. 84.  

[43] al-Samhudi, Wafa’ al-wafa’ fi akhbar dar al-Mustafa, vol. 2 p. 96. 

Construction of Mosque Near the Graves of Pious People

Is construction of mosque near or in front of the grave of pious people permissible or not? Supposing it is permitted, then what is the main purpose of the tradition (hadith) of the Holy Prophet (s) regarding the actions of Jews and Christians as it has come in a tradition that the Holy Prophet (s) has cursed these two groups for considering the graves of their Prophets as objects of worship? Moreover, is construction of mosque near the graves of the Awliya inseparable with what has come down in this tradition!?  

Answer: 

By paying attention to the general principles of Islam, construction of mosque in the vicinity of graves of the awliya and pious doesn’t not have the least problem. This is because the purpose of construction of mosque is nothing more than worshipping Allah near the grave of His beloved who has become the source of receiving gifts. In other words, the aim of establishing mosque in these instances is that the visitors to the Divine leaders either before or after their ziyarat, perform their duty of worship (‘ibadat) over there in as much as neither ziyara to graves is forbidden (even from the viewpoint of Wahhabis) nor performing of salat, after or before ziyarat. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that the construction of mosque near the graves of awliya for the purpose of worshipping Allah and performing divine duties is forbidden.  

By paying attention to the story of Ashab al-Kahf it is deduced that this action was a custom prevalent in the previous religions and Qur’an has narrated that without any criticism. When the incident of Companions of Kahf was disclosed to the people of that time after 309 years, they expressed their views about the ways of honouring the Companions of Kahf. One group said that a structure should be made over their grave (so that apart from honouring them their names, signs and memories are kept alive). Qur’an expresses this view as such:                                                                                                                     

“…..Erect an edifice over them….,” (Kahf: 21)

Another group said that a mosque should be built over their grave (and in this way tabarruk sought). The Islamic commentators are unanimous in their views.[1] that the suggestion of the first group was related to the polytheists and the suggestion of the second gronp was that of the monotheists. The Qur’an, while narrating this saying, says:                                                                                 

 Those who prevailed in their affair said: We will certainly raise a masjid over them. (Kahf: 21) [2]

History has it that the period of occurrence of the incidence of Companions of Kahf was the period of victory of monotheism over polytheism. There was no more of the sovereignty of the polytheists, nor their calling the people towards idol-worshipping. Naturally, this victorious group will be the same monotheist group, especially, that the content of their suggestion was the matter of construction of mosque for the sake of worshipping Allah. This itself is a witness that those making the suggestion were monotheists and God-worshippers.  

If really the construction of mosque over or near the grave of the holy persons is a sin or polytheism, then why the monotheists made such a suggestion and why Qur’an narrates this without any criticism? Is not the narration of Qur’an together with this silence a testimony upon its permissibility? It is never proper that God narrates the sign of polytheism from a group but without specifically or implicitly criticising them. And this reasoning is the same ‘assertion’ which has been explained in ‘ilm al-‘usul. (Methodology)  

This event shows that it has been one kind of lasting conduct amongst all the monotheists and was one way of honouring the one in grave or a means of seeking tabarruk.  

It was reasonable and polite of the Wahhabis that before arguing about hadith, they should first have sought the reference from the Holy Qur’an and then attempted the analysis of the tradition.  

Now we shall discuss and examine their reasonings.  

Reasonings of Wahhabis that Construction of Mosque near Grave is Forbidden 

By presenting a series of traditions, the Wahhabis have analysed the matter of construction of mosque near the grave of pious people to be forbidden. We shall examine all such traditions:  

Bukhari in his Sahih under the chapter of   narrates two traditions as such: 

1. When al-Hasan bin al-Hasan bin ‘Ali passed away his wife made a dome (a tent) over his grave and after one year she removed it. It was heard that one person cried out: “Have they found that which they had lost”, another person replied: “No they have become disappointed and have given up.”             

2. May the curse of Allah be upon the Jews and Christians (for) considering the graves of their Prophets as mosques. She (Ayesha) said: “If it was not for this fear that the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) would become a mosque, the Muslims would have kept his grave open (and not put up a barrier around it).  

3. Muslim has narrated in Sahih the same tradition with slight variation. As such we confine ourselves to narrating only one text. [3]               

Know that people before you took the graves of their Prophets and the pious people as mosques. Never take the graves as mosques, I forbid you from that. [4]

4. Umm Habiba and Umm Salama (Wives of the Holy Prophet) saw a prophet's picture in the country of Ethiopia (when they had travelled to that place along with a group). The Holy Prophet (s) said: They are such people that whenever a pious man dies amongst them they construct a mosque over his grave and draw his picture on it. They are the worst of the people before God on the Day of Judgement. [5] 

al-Nasa’i narrates from Ibn ‘Abbas in his Sunan under the chapter: 

5. The Holy Prophet (s) has cursed those ladies who visit the grave and those who take them as mosques and light a lamp over it. [6]  

Ibn Taymiyya who is the leader of such beliefs and Muhammad ibn ’Abd al-Wahhab sharing his views interpret the aforesaid traditions in such a manner that building mosque over or near the grave of pious people is not permitted.

Thus Ibn-Taymiyya writes:                                                                                           

 “Our scholars have said that it is never allowed to construct a mosque over the grave”. [7]  

A Probe into the Context of Traditions 

Now we have to pay attention to the contents of the traditions and derive its correct meanings. We should not remain negligent to this principle and it is as such: As one verse (ayah) can remove the ambiguity of another verse and help its correct interpretation, in the same way, one tradition too can remove the ambiguity and interpret another tradition.  

The Wahhabis have stuck to the apparent meaning of one tradition and relied on that in such a manner that any kind of building of mosque over or near the graves of awliya is prohibited whereas if they would have collected all the traditions together, they would have understood the objective of the Holy Prophet (s) in sending this curse.  

The Wahhabis have closed the door of ijtihad and thus commited too many mistakes in understanding many of the traditions.  

Superficially, it is possible that the authenticity of the traditions be reliable and its narrators trustworthy. Since the deliberation on the references of these traditions will lengthen our discussion, we shall limit ourselves to their contents only.  

Our Views about This Matter: 

Awareness about the objective of the traditions is related to throwing light on the actions of the Jews and Christians near the graves of their respective Prophets because our Holy Prophet (s) has prevented us from the actions which they used to do. If the limits of their actions are clarified, then surely the limits of haram in Islam too would be clarified. 

In the previous traditions there exist evidences which testified to the fact that they took the graves of their prophets as their qibla and refused from paying heed to the true qibla. More still, they were worshipping their prophets near their graves instead of worshipping Allah or at least were taking partners with God in their worship.  

If the context of the traditions is this that we do not choose their graves to be their qibla and do not consider them as partners with God in worship, then we can never consider the construction of mosque over or near the graves of the pious and virtuous as haram where the visitors neither take their graves to be as their qibla nor do they worship them. Moreover, they worship the one God facing the qibla in their salat and the aim of constructing mosque near the graves of awliya Allah is only to seek tabarruk from their place.  

What is important is that it should be proved that the aim of the tradition (that we should not take their graves as mosques) is the same as what we have just said. Here are the evidences:  

1. The tradition of Sahih Muslim (4th tradition) elucidates the other traditions because when the two wives of the Holy Prophet (s) explained to him that they had seen a portrait of a Prophet in a Ethiopian church, the Holy Prophet (s) said:  

“They are such people that whenever a pious person passes away they would construct a mosque over his grave and put up his portrait in that mosque.”[8]  

The purpose of putting portraits near the graves of pious people was that people would worship them such that they considered the portrait and grave to be their qibla or still more, consider them as idols for worship and prostration. Worshipping of idols is nothing but placing the idol in front and respecting and falling into humiliation before them.  

The probability which we are having in this tradition, keeping in mind the actions of the Christians who were and are always inclined towards human worship and are always worshipping portraits and statues, is very worthy of attention. With such strong probability we can never rationalize with the help of this tradition, the prohibition of construction of mosque over or near the grave of awliya Allah which is devoid of such embellishments.  

2. Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his al-Musnad and Imam Malik in his al-Muwatta’ narrate the tradition that the Holy Prophet (s) after prohibiting the matter of construction of mosque said:  

“Allah, do not make my grave as an idol which is subject to worship” [9] 

This sentence shows that they were behaving with the grave and the portrait which was next to it like one idol and taking them as their qibla and still more is worshipping them in the form of idol. 

3. Pondering over the tradition of Ayesha (2nd tradition) will elucidate this fact to a greater extent. After narrating the tradition from the Holy Prophet (s) she says:  

“If it was not for the fear that the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) would be taken as mosque the Muslims would have kept his grave open”.  (They would have not constructed a barrier around the grave)  

Now it should be seen that from what aspects the barrier and wall around the grave can become an obstacle? Undoubtedly the barrier will prevent the people from reciting salat over the grave, from worshipping the grave as one idol or at least from taking it as a qibla. However, performing salat near the grave without worshipping the grave or considering it as a qibla is absolutely possible, whether there exists a barrier or not and whether the grave is open or hidden. This is because for fourteen centuries the Muslims have been performing salat near the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) facing the qibla and have been worshipping Allah without the barrier preventing them from doing this action. 

To sum up, the appendix of the hadith which is the text of the sayings of Ayesha clarifies the contents of the tradition because Umm al-mu’minin says: ‘In order that the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) would not be taken as mosque, they kept his grave hidden from the eyes of the people and constructed a barrier around it.’ Now it should be seen as to what extent this barrier can serve as an obstacle. 

A barrier can prevent from two things:  

1. The grave from taking the shape of idol and the people from standing in front of it and worshipping it since with the presence of a barrier, people are unable to see his grave to be able to treat it as an idol.  

2. The grave from becoming a qibla since fixing it as a qibla is the outcome of seeing and we can never compare it with the ka’ba which is a qibla in all the situations whether it is seen or not. This is because ka’ba is a universal conventional qibla in all the conditions, making no difference if it is seen or not. However taking the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) as a qibla for the attendants in the mosque will be related to those who offer salat in his mosque and such a deviation is more achievable in case the grave is uncovered and seen; but when the grave is concealed the thought of prostrating over his grave even in the form of qibla is much less. Due to this, Umm al-mu’minin says that if no possibility existed for considering the grave as mosque (ie. prostrating over the grave) it would have been kept uncoveed. Moreover, such a deviation takes place more when the grave is seen and much less when the grave is hidden. 

3. Most of the commentators of the tradition offer the same interpretation as we have done.  

Al-Qastallani in Irshad al-sari says: For keeping alive the memories of their past ones, the Jews and Christians were fixing the portraits of their virtous ones near their graves and worshipping their graves. However, their sons and successors, under the influence of whisperings of shaytan, started to worship the portraits near the graves. Thereafter he narrates from Tafsir al-Baydawi as follows:

In view of the fact that the Jews and Christians were taking the graves of their Prophets as their qibla for the purpose of respect, and were paying attention towards them at the time of their prayers, their graves took the position of idols. For this reason the Muslims have been forbidden from this action. However, if someone constructs a mosque near the grave of a pious person for the prupose of seeking tabarruk and not for worshipping or paying attention towards them, he will never be included in this prohibition.” [10]

It is not only al-Qastallani who in his commentary on Sahih Bukhari interprets this tradition as such but also al-Sindi, the commentator of Sunan al-Nasa’i speaks with the same effect. We mention some of them here.  

The outcome of his dispensation is this that construction over the grave is haram and occasionally makruh. If the grave is considered as qibla it is haram, since it may lead to the worship of the one buried, otherwise it is makruh. [11] 

Again he says:  

 “He (i.e. the Holy Prophet) prohibits his ummah from treating his grave in the same manner as what the Jews and the Christians have done to the graves of their Prophets. This is because, in the name of honour and respect, they were prostrating over the grave or considering it as their qibla”. [12 

Regarding this matter, the commentator of Sahih Muslim says:  

“If the Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited us from considering his grave and other graves as a mosque, it is due to this reason that the Muslims should stop from exaggerating his honour which might lead to infidelity. Thus, when the Muslims were compelled to develop the mosque of the Holy Prophet (s) and place the chamber of the prophet’s wives and the chamber of Ayesha in the middle of the mosque, they fixed a round wall around the grave so that it could not be seen and the Muslims would not prostrate over it. The speech of Umm al-mu’minin too is a witness to the same: 

If it was not for this fear that his grave (i.e. the grave of Holy Prophet) would become a mosque, the Muslims would have kept his grave open (and not put up a barrier around it) 

Another commentator says: The words of Ayesha are related to that period when the mosque was not developed nor extended. After extention and the admittance of her chamber inside the mosque, the chamber was made in the shape of a triangle so that nobody could perform salat over the grave. Thereafter he says that the Jews and Christians were worshipping their Prophets near their graves and were taking them as partners in their worship. With such evidence and perception of the tradition, one cannot understand any meaning other than this.  

We shall now overlook all these evidences and will approach this issue by another  reasoning: 

Firstly, the tradition is applicable to a situation where a mosque is constructed over the grave and this matter does not bear any relation to an adjacent place of the buried. In all the buried places, the mosque is placed near the grave of Imams (a’imma) and awliya in such a manner that the mosque is separated from the shrine. In other words, we are having one shrine and one mosque. The shrine is set aside for ziyarah and tawwasul and the mosque near that, for the worship of Allah. Therefore these adjacent places (shrines) are outside the scope and contents of the tradition assuming that the contents of the traditions are the same as what the Wahhabis say.  

Basically speaking how can it be said that the construction of mosque over the grave is haram or makruh whereas Masjid al-Nabi (mosque of the Holy Prophet) is placed near his grave? 

If the companions of the Holy Prophet (s) are like the stars which should be followed then why, in this case, we should not follow them. They extended the mosque in such a manner that the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) and the shaykhayn have been placed in the middle of the mosque.

If really, construction of mosque near the grave of Holy Imams was unlawful, then why the muslims expanded the mosque of the Holy Prophet (s) from every angle; while the mosque during the time of the Holy Prophet (s) was placed on the eastern side of the grave, after the expansion, the western side of the grave too became the part of the mosque. 

Is it that following the   i.e. predecessors and being   which the Wahhabis are always proud of, means that we should follow them in one instance and disobey them in another? 

From this description, it becomes clear that to what extent the sayings of Ibn al-Qayyim that in Islam, grave and mosque do not exist together are baseless and against the path of Muslims. Secondly, we do not derive any meaning from these traditions other than the Holy Prophet (s) prohibiting construction of mosque over or near the graves of the awliya. However, there does not exist any decisive argument to prove that this prohibition is a haram prohibition. Instead, it is possible that this prohibition is a makruh prohibition just as Bukhari has interpreted the traditions and discussed them under the title; 

 Chapter: It is aversion to build mosques on graves. [13] 

Another testimony is that this matter has come along with the curse upon female visitors to the grave. [14]  Surely visiting the graves is makruh and not haram for the ladies.  

If the Holy Prophet (s) has cursed this group, this curse is no testimony of it being haram because in many of the traditions those committing makruh acts have been cursed too. In tradition, it is mentioned that those who travel alone or eat alone or sleep alone are cursed.  

In the end we remind that the construction of mosque over the grave of pious people was an act which was in vogue in the beginning of Islam.  

Al-Samhudi says: “When the mother of Ali (‘a), Fatima bint Asad, passed away, the Holy Prophet (s) ordered that she be buried in a place where today stands a mosque named as ‘Grave of Fatima’. He meant that the place of grave of Fatima appear as a mosque in later time. Again he says: “Mus’ab bin ‘Umayr and ‘Abdulla bin Jahsh were buried under the mosque which was built over the grave of Hamza.” [15] 

He further says that in the 2nd century there existed a mosque over the grave of Hamza.[16] 

This mosque existed till the domination of the Wahhabis. They demolished this mosque on these unfounded reasons. 

Notes: 

[1] Refer to Tafsir al-Kashshaf of al-Zamakhshari, Ghara’ib al-Qur’an of al-Naysaburi, and others. 

[2] Sahih al-Bukhari, kitab al-jana’iz, vol. 2, page 111. 

[3] Sahih al-Bukhari, kitab al-jana’iz, vol. 2, page 111; Sunan al-Nasa’i, kitab al-jana’iz, vol. 2 p. 871  

[4] Sahih Muslim, vol. 2 p. 68. 

[5] Sahih Muslim, kitab al-masajid, vol. 2, p. 66.  

[6] Sunan al-Nasa’i, (ed. Mustafa Halabi), vol. 4, p. 77  

[7] Ibn Taymiyya, Ziyarat al-qubur, p. 106.  

[9] Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, vol. 3, p. 248

[10] al-Qastallani, Irshad al-sari; and Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-bari, vol. 3, p. 208 approve this view. Prohibition is applicable under circumstances where the grave appears in the manner which was in vogue amongst the Jews and Christians. Otherwise there is no problem and objection.   

[11] Sunan al-Nasa’i, (al-Azhar edition), vol. 2, p. 21.  

[12] Sunan al-Nasa’i, (al-Azhar edition), vol. 2, p. 21. 

[13] Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 2, p. 111

[14] Sunan al-Nasa’i, (Egyptian edition), vol. 3, p. 77.

[15] Al-Samhudi, Wafa’ al-wafa’ fi akhbar dar al-Mustafa, (ed. Muhammad Muhyiuddin), vol. 3, p. 897. 

[16] Al-Samhudi, Wafa’ al-wafa’, (ed. Muhammad Muhyiuddin), vol. 3, p. 922 and 936. 

Visitation (Ziyarat) of Graves of Believers from the Viewpoint of the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah

The scholars of Islam with the support of verses of Qur’an and traditions have recommended ziyarat of grave especially the ziyarat of the Holy Prophet's grave and those of the pious people and consider this to be a virtue and honour. However, Wahhabis do not consider the principle of ziyarat to be haram (in apparent terms) but declare that the journey for ziyara towards the grave of the awliya Allah as unlawful and haram. After completion of the principle of ziyarat, we shall discuss the matter of journey for ziyarat of the graves of the awliya Allah  

Ziyarat of graves has many ethical influences and is important for moral education and training that we shall mention here very briefly.  

Looking at this silent valley (i.e. graveyard) which has blown off the light of life of everyone from the poor to the rich and the weak to the powerful and all of them being buried with only three pieces of cloth, purifies the mind and the heart and reduces greed and avarice of a person to a great extent. If a person possesses an eye which can see warnings he can there by learn a lesson and think within himself as such: A transient life of 60 or 70 years ending in getting concealed under the soil and then decaying and getting destroyed is not so much valuable that a person strives hard to achieve wealth and position and does injustice upon himself and the others.  

Witnessing this silent valley which softens the most adament heart and makes the most heavy ear to hear and gives brightness to the most poor eye-sight, causes a person to review his plans in life and ponder over the great responsibilites which he has before Allah and the people and controls his desires.  

The Holy Prophet (s) refering to this point in a tradition says:                                                                                                          

 “Visit the graves; for visiting them becomes the cause of remembering the next world”. [1]

While the authenticity and firmness of ziyarat of graves is so obvious that it is needless to produce proofs and reasonings to a great extent yet, we reflect here some of the proofs for those who are doubtful. 

Qur’an and ziyarat of Graves: 

Qur’an clearly instructs that the Holy Prophet (s) should not perform prayer over the dead body of the hypocrites and should not stand near their graves. It says: 

“And never offer prayer for anyone of them who dies and do not stand by his grave, surely they disbelieve in Allah and His Apostle and they shall die in transgression”. (Tauba: 84)  

In this verse, for destroying the character of the hypocrites and rebuking the members of this group, the God commands the Holy Prophet (s):  

1. Not to perform salat over the dead body of anyone of them. 

2. Not to stand over their graves; and this reality is presented with the sentence;  

When the Holy Qur’an commands that one should avoid these two actions with regards to the hypocrites it means that for others who are not hypocrites these actions are good and worthy to be performed. 

Now let us see what   means? Does it refer only to the standing at the time of burial which in the case of hypocrites is not permissible and in the case of the believers good and necessary? Or it also refers to standing at the time of burial and at other instances? 

Some of the commentators think that the verse refers to the matter of standing at the time of burial but some others like al-Baydawi see the verse from a far angle and interpret it as such:                                                                                                         

Don’t stand on grave for burial or pilgrimage. [2]

Paying attention to the contents of verse will show that it is having a wider meaning i.e. it concerns standing at the time of burial as well as stopping after the burial. 

This is because two sentences form the gist of the subject matter of this verse and these two sentences comprises of: 

1.                                                                                                             

“And never offer prayer for anyone of them who dies……” (Tauba: 84)

The word of  which has been placed in the course of prohibition is good for all individuals.  

The word of   is good for all times and the meaning of the sentence will be as such: “Do not perform salat for any one of the hypocrites at any time”. 

By paying attention to these two words we can easily understand that the meaning of this particular sentence is not refering to recitation of salat over the dead body because reciting salat over the dead body takes place only once and that is before the burial and it cannot be repeated. If it specifically meant recitation of salat over the dead, then it was needless to bring the word . And to imagine that this word serves the purpose of expressing all individuals is completely irrelevant because the sentence   is sufficient for such inclusion and purpose and there is no need to mention it once again.  

Moreover, the word   in Arabic refers to time and not individuals such as 

“Nor that you should marry his wives after him ever;…” (Ahzab: 53) 

Therefore the essence of the first sentence is: Never seek forgiveness and mercy for anyone of the hypocrites whether at the time of reciting salat or otherwise.  

. And now we will discuss the second sentence:                                                                                                                                                             

The meaning of this sentence in connection with the previous sentence is as such:                                                                                                               

because the adverbs which are present in  are also applicable for  . 

Therefore it cannot be said that qiyam (standing) refers to the qiyam at the time of burial because it is presumed that qiyam at the time of burial for each one is not subject to repetition and the word   too is commendable in this sentence which shows that this action is worthy of repetition. 

The reply to the supposition that this word is applicable for all individuals was given in the previous sentence since with the presence of   it is needless to express that once again.  

By paying attention to these two points in the words  and   one can say:  

God has prohibited the Holy Prophet (s) from seeking any kind of mercy for the hypocrites whether by means of reciting salat upon the dead body or merely by means of du'a and from any kind of standing over their graves whether at the time of burial or after the burial. This means that these two actions i.e. ‘seeking forgiveness’ and ‘standing’ is permissible and worthy for the grave of a believer in all the instances and one of such instances is standing for ziyarat and recitation of Qur’an for a believer who has been buried there for years.  

Now we shall discuss the virtue and excellence of ziyarat of graves from the viewpoint of traditions.  

Traditions and ziyarat of Graves: 

From the Islamic traditions which the authors of Sihah and Sunan have narrated, we derive the conclusion that the Holy Prophet (s) had prohibited, due to a temporary reason, the ziyarat of graves and later on allowed the people to make haste for ziyarat. 

Perhaps the reason for prohibition was that their dead ones were predominantly polytheists and idol-worshippers and Islam had cut off their relation and affection with the world of polytheism. It is also possible that the reason for prohibition was something else and that is the newly converted Muslims were writing elegies and saying un-Islamic things over the graves of the dead polytheists. But after the expansion of Islam and the ‘faith’ entering into the hearts of people, this prohibition was lifted and the Holy Prophet (s) permitted the people to go for the ziyarat of graves because of the educative benefits, so that people should hasten to visit graves

The writers of Sunan and Sihah narrate as such:

“I had prohibited you from ziyara of graves. From now on, go for ziyara because it will make you feel unattached towards this world and make you remember the hereafter.” [3]

It is on the same basis that the Holy Prophet (s) was visiting the grave of his mother and informing the people to visit the graves since ziyara is the source of remembering the hereafter. Here is the text of the tradition:                                

“The Holy Prophet (s) visited the grave of his mother and cried near her grave and also made others around him to cry. Thereafter he said: I have taken permission from my Lord to visit the grave of my mother. You too should visit the graves because such a visit will remind you of death.” [4] 

4. Ayesha says that the Holy Prophet (s) freely allowed the ziyarat of graves, 

“The Prophet of God permitted the visit of graves”. 

5. Ayesha says: The Holy Prophet (s) taught me the manner of visiting the graves. Here is the text of the tradition: 

“My lord commanded me to come to Baqi’ and seek forgiveness for them. (Ayesha) says: I asked him how one should seek forgiveness to which the Holy Prophet (s) replied: Say Peace (Salaam) be upon the people of this place from the believers and muslims, May God have mercy on those who have left and those who are to follow. We shall join you all very soon.” [6]

6. In another tradition, there are some sentences which the Holy Prophet (s) used when performing ziyarat of graves. It is as follows:                          

Peace be with you the groups of believers and we will be return to you and rely on you and certainly if God wishes, we will join you. O God, have mercy on all those (buried) in Baqi’ al-Garqad* [7] 

*Garqad was a tree in Baqi’ graveyard. And because of this tree, it was commonly called as the land of Garqad.  

7. In another tradition, the text of ziyarat is narrated in a different way: 

Peace be with you the groups of believers and muslims, and certainy we will join you. You will exhilarate us and we will follow you. We ask welfare from you for ourselves and for yourself. [8] 

8. In the third tradition, the text is narrated still differently:                                                                

Peace be with you the groups of believers and if God wishes, we will join you. [9]  

From the tradition of Ayesha, we got knowledge that whenever the last part of night was approaching, the Holy Prophet (s) would go towards Baqi’ and say: 

Peace be with you! The groups of believers and what has been promised to you will be given to you, soon in future your destiny will reach you. And certainly, we will be the joiners to you soon. And if God wishes, will be with you. O God! Have mercy on all those (buried) in Baqi’ al-Garqad. [10]  

From another tradition we come to know that the Holy Prophet (s) used to hasten, along with a group of people for ziyarat of graves and teach them the manner of doing ziyarat:      

The Prophet (s) used to teach them that when they go out to graves they should say: Peace be with those who live in houses (graves). Peace be with you the groups of believers and muslims. Certainly if God wishes, we will be joiners to you. We ask safety for ourselves and yourselves. [11] 

Women and ziyarat of Graves

The only matter which is remaining is the matter of ziyara by women which in some of the traditions, the Holy Prophet (s) has prohibited them from doing so. 

“The Prophet of God has cursed the women who go excessively for ziyarat.” [12]  

But it should be known that utilizing this tradition for proving prohibition of ziyarat is not correct due to a number of reasons: firstly, most of the scholars think this prohibition to be in the makruh sense and the reason for it being makruh was because of the special conditions prevailing at that time. One of the commentators of tradition i.e., the writer of Miftah al-haja fi sharh Sahih Ibn Maja refers to that and says

“The scholars are having two opinions about the prohibition. That whether it is prohibited in the makruh sense or prohibited in the haram sense! But most of the scholars believe that women can go for ziyara if they are certain of remaining safe from any trouble.” [13] 

Secondly, we have read in the previous traditions (kindly refer to tradition number 4) that Ayesha narrates from the Holy Prophet (s) that the latter declared free the ziyara of graves. If the women were excluded from this declaration then it is necessary to remind that this declaration is exclusively for men especially when the narrator is a lady and amongst the people to whom he (i.e. Prophet) was addressing was a lady and every addressee will naturally think that the order and declaration is directed to him or her. 

Thirdly, some of the traditions mention the manner in which the Holy Prophet (s) taught Ayesha to perform ziyara of graves [14] and Ayesha herself used to personally visit the graves after the Holy Prophet (s).  

Fourthly, al-Tirmidhi narrates that when Ayesha's brother i.e. ‘Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Bakr died in Ethiopia, his body was taken to Mecca and buried there. When his sister Ayesha came to Mecca from Medina, she visited grave of her brother and by the side of his grave, recited two couplets in his sorrow and made speech (about him).[15] 

The commentator of Sahih al-Tirmidhi Imam Hafiz Ibn al-‘Arabi [al-Maliki] (born in 435 AH and died in 543 AH) writes in his additional notes on Sahih.  

“The fact is that the Holy Prophet (s) has permitted the men and the women to go for ziyara. If some of the traditions mention it to be makruh it is because of restlessness and impatience near the grave or because of not observing proper hijab.” 

Fifthly, Bukhari narrates from Anas that the Holy Prophet (s) saw a woman crying over her beloved one and comforted her to have faith and be patient. The woman not recognising the Holy Prophet (s), said: “you release me from the calamity which has befallen upon me and not befallen upon you”. When it was said to her that he was the Holy Prophet (s) she left the grave and went to the house of the Holy Prophet (s) pleading pardon for not recognising him. The Holy Prophet (s) replied: “Patience is advised at the time of misfortunes”. [16]  

If ziyara was forbidden, the Holy Prophet (s) would have prohibited her from this action while he only asked her to adopt patience. Moreover, after the women visited the house of the Holy Prophet (s) he talked of patience and steadfastness at the time of misfortunes and did not say anything about ziyara of grave; otherwise he would have ordered her not to visit the grave of her beloved one any more. 

Sixthly, Fatima (‘a), daughter of the Holy Prophet (s), used to visit every Friday the grave of her uncle Hamza and recite prayer (salat) and cry sadly at his grave. [17] 

Seventhly, al-Qurtubi says that the Holy Prophet (s) did not prohibit any lady going for ziyara. Instead he cursed those ladies who were going for ziyara very often as he uses the words   and   which is used for exaggeration [18]  

Perhaps the reason of cursing such a habit is that excessive ziyarat is the source of spoiling the rights of husband. If such factors are absent in the ziyara of one lady then there is no problem as such since remembering death is a matter which is necessary for both men and women.  

Eighthly, if ziyara of grave is the source of getting unattached towards this world and a reduction of the greed of the person in helping him to remember the Hereafter, it also brings some benefit for the dead one i.e. for the one who is buried under the soil and is helpless from doing anything. This is because the Islamic ziyara is usually accompanied by recitation of al-Fatiha and giving its reward to the deceased. In fact this is the best gift which an alive person can give to his or her beloved dead one.  

Ibn Maja narrates in his Sahih that the Holy Prophet (s) said: 

“Recite Sura Yasin upon your dead ones” [19]  

Therefore, there is no difference between man and woman that one should be permitted and the other should be forbidden, except that if the women are faced with some special situations that we previously discussed. Now, that the matter of ziyara of the graves of believers is clear for us and it is now necessary to refer to the valuable effects of ziyarat of the graves of the awliya Allah and the beloved ones of Allah. 

Notes: 

[1] Sunan Ibn Maja, vol. 1, p. 113 chapter of    

[2] Tafsir al-Baydawi, vol. 3, p. 77. 

[3] Sunan Ibn Maja, chapter of   vol.1, p.114, (Indian edition); Sahih al-Tirmidhi chapter of   vol. 3 p. 274 along with commentary of Ibn al-‘Arabi Maliki, (Lebanon edition); After narrating the tradition from Burayda, al-Tirmidhi says:                        

‘The tradition of Burayda is correct and the people of knowledge act upon it. They do not put forward any obstacle for performing ziyara of graves and they are people such as Ibn al-Mubarak, al-Shafi’i, Ahmad and Ishaq.’ Meanwhile, you may refer to the following documents: 

Sahih Muslim, vol. 3. page 65 chapter of                                                                                                                                  

Sahih Abu Dawud, vol.2. p. 195, book of   chapter of    

Sahih Muslim, vol. 4 p. 73, book of  chapter of   

[4] Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, p. 65, chapter of  

Sahih Ibn Maja, vol. 1, p. 114. 

According to the narrators of this tradition, the reason the Holy Prophet (s) took permission from Allah for visiting the grave of his mother was that his mother was a polytheist. Undoubtedly the mother of Holy Prophet (s) was a monotheist and a believer like her father, grandfather and ancestors. For this reason all the portion of this tradition is incompatible with the religious standards.  

Sunan Abi Dawud, vol. 2 p. 195. Book of   Egyptian print along with the additional notes of Shaykh Ahmad Sa’d from the scholars of Azhar. 

Sahih Muslim, vol. 4 p. 74, book of   chapter of    

[5] Sahih Ibn Maja, vol. 1, p. 114.  

[6] Sunan al-Nasa'i, vol. 3 p. 76; and Sahih Muslim, vol. 3, p. 64 chapter of    

[7] Sunan al-Nasa'i, vol. 40,  pp. 76- 77.  

[8] Sunan al-Nasa'i, vol. 40, pp. 76- 77.

[9] Sunan Abu Dawud, vol. 2,  p. 196. 

[10] Sahih Muslim, vol. 3,  p. 63 chapter of   

[11] Sahih Muslim, vol. 3,  p. 110 chapter of  

[12] Sahih Ibn Maja, (1st Edition, Egypt), vol. 1, p. 478, book of  chapter of  

[13] Hawashi of Sunan Ibn Maja, (Indian edition), vol. 1, p. 114.  

[14] Refer to tradition no. 5.  

[15] Sunan al-Tirmidhi, vol. 4, p. 275 book of   chapter of   

[16] Sahih Bukhari, p. 100, book of   chapter of  ;  Sunan Abi Dawud, vol. 2 p. 171.  

[17] al-Hakim, Mustadrak al-sahihayn,  vol. 1, p. 377; al-Samhudi, Wafa’ al-wafa’, vo1. 2 p. 112. 

[18] Sunan Abu Dawud, vol. 2, p. 196 has narrated  

[19] Sahih Bukhari, p. 100, book of   chater of  ; Sunan Abi Dawud, vol. 2 p. 171.