Thus, the Prophet’s warning and his pronouncement of a curse for resembling the People of the Book by constructing a mosque over the grave of a righteous man constitute an explicit ban on such imitation. They also serve as evidence for exercising caution toward all their practices, for one cannot be certain that other deeds of theirs do not belong to the same forbidden category.
It is likewise well known that many members of this community have fallen into the trials of building mosques upon graves, or turning graves into prayer sites even without erecting a structure over them. Both actions are prohibited, and whoever engages in them is subject to the curse established by the widely-transmitted Sunnah. This is not the place to enumerate all the ḥadīths and reports on the subject, for the aim here is to state the overarching principle. Still, the prohibition has been affirmed by numerous scholars across the legal schools—among the disciples of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, and others. For this reason, the earliest generations—Companions and Successors alike—were extremely vigilant in preventing anything that might lead to such practices.
(1) The word al-salih is absent from MS A.
(2) MS B reads: “in this proof, and a proof…,” etc.
(3) MS A has “ʿalā jins,” whereas MS B and the printed edition read “ʿan jins.”
(4) MS Ṭ reads: “in this jins (category).”
(5) One of the gravest calamities that has afflicted the Muslims in recent centuries is the leniency shown by some of them in building mosques and domes over graves, followed by their stubborn persistence in this scourge. Today they even seek to expand it, despite the counsel of sincere advisers and the clarifications offered by the discerning. You can see for yourself how plentiful and firmly established are the texts that warn against and prohibit this practice. Indeed, during his final illness the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and his family—was not as concerned about anything as he was about his community’s falling into this serious matter. Yet we continue to witness acceptance and spread of this innovation (bidʿah); we even hear of imams, preachers, and advocates who champion it. The issue has not stopped at merely building over graves; these tombs have been turned into shrines, temples, even qiblahs (directions of prayer) around which people circumambulate and in which created beings are invoked instead of the Creator. We ask Allah to purify the lands of the Muslims, and the hearts of those among them who have been afflicted, from this defilement.