171 – Abū Marthad al-Ghanawī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Do not pray facing graves, and do not sit on them.’” Reported by Muslim (1).

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Vocabulary of the ḥadith
• Abū Marthad: the mīm is pronounced with a fatḥa, the rāʾ is silent, followed by a thāʾ (th) and then a dāl.
• al-Ghanawī: the ghayn is pronounced with a fatḥa. The nisba is to the tribe of Ghanī ibn Aʿṣar, one of the ʿAdnānī tribes. His personal name was Kināz ibn Ḥuṣayn, a Companion who was an ally of Banū Hāshim.
• al-qubūr (graves): plural of qabr. Maqbara (with either ḍamma or fatḥa on the bāʾ) means “graveyard,” plural maqābir. Qabartu l-mayyit, “I buried the deceased”; aqbartuhu, “I ordered that he be buried,” as in Allah’s statement, “Then He caused him to die and had him buried” ⦗ʿAbasa 80:21⦘.

Points derived from the ḥadith
1. It is forbidden to pray toward graves, i.e. with the cemetery in the direction of the worshipper.
2. Because the prohibition is categorical, any such prayer is invalid.
3. The wisdom behind the prohibition is to avert the glorification of graves, which could lead to worshipping those buried in them.

Ibn al-Qayyim said: “Among Satan’s greatest stratagems—old and new—which he has continually inspired to his followers is the trial of graves, until matters escalated to the point that the occupants of those graves were worshipped besides Allah, or the graves themselves were adored. The earliest appearance of this grave affliction was among the people of Noah.”

Ibn Ḥazm said: “The aḥādīth prohibiting prayer in graveyards are mass-transmitted, and it is not permissible…"