on his bier, and—by the time they had done so—it would begin to rain.’

I asked, ‘Whom did you suppose the man to be?’
He replied, ‘A man known as Daniel.’

I said, ‘How long had he been dead when you found him?’
He answered, ‘Three hundred years.’

I then asked, ‘Had anything of him changed?’
He said, ‘Nothing at all, save for a few hairs at the nape of his neck. The earth does not consume the flesh of the prophets, nor do wild beasts devour it.’

This account shows how the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār deliberately obscured his grave so that people would not fall into temptation over it—an unmistakable sign of their disapproval.

It is likewise reported that the grave of Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī in Constantinople was concealed in the same way, yet such conduct on the part of those people is no proof to be followed. Many graves of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) stood throughout the Muslim lands, attended by the Successors and, after them, the leading scholars. Never did they seek relief at anyone’s grave, seek rain there or through the buried person, or seek victory by means of him.

Matters of this kind are exactly those for which people are keenest to preserve and transmit reports—even details of far lesser importance. Anyone who examines the collections of traditions and is acquainted with the practice of the early generations will know with absolute certainty that they never sought such intercession.