(1) That is: the Prophet’s—peace be upon him—grave was left uncovered and no partition was put around it; in other words, the intended place of burial was outside his house, as explained in Fath al-Bari. Benefit: ‘Aisha’s statement clearly shows the reason the Prophet—peace be upon him—was buried inside his dwelling: to block anyone who might later build a mosque over his grave. Therefore, her words cannot be used as proof for burying anyone else in a private house, especially since such a practice departs from the normative rule that the sunnah is burial in public graveyards. Ibn ‘Urwa writes in al-Kawakib al-Darari (fol. 88, Tafsir 548): “Burial in the Muslims’ cemeteries is preferable to Abu ‘Abd Allah—meaning Imam Ahmad—than burial in houses, because it is less harmful to the living heirs, more akin to the abodes of the hereafter, and elicits more prayers and mercy for the deceased. From the time of the Companions, the Followers, and those after them, people have always been buried in the open plains.”