(1) Ibn Abd al-Barr explains that a wathan is an idol. The Prophet therefore said, “Do not turn my grave into an idol toward which people pray, prostrate, and devote worship,” for God’s wrath is severe against whoever does so. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ constantly warned his Companions and the rest of the community against repeating the misconduct of earlier nations who prayed toward the graves of their prophets and made them a qibla and a mosque—just as pagans did with their idols—an act that constitutes major shirk (polytheism). He informed them that such practices incur God’s anger and displeasure, fearing they might imitate those nations. The Prophet ﷺ loved to differ from the People of the Book and other unbelievers and feared that his community might follow them, as is clear from his rebuke: “You will surely follow the ways of those before you, step by step; if one of them were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would follow him.” This is cited in Ibn Rajab’s Fath al-Bari, vol. 9, p. 90, no. 65, from al-Kawakib. (2) Reported by Ahmad, no. 7352; Ibn Saʿd, 2/241–242; al-Mufaddal al-Jundi, Fadaʾil al-Madina, 1/66; Abu Yaʿla, Musnad, 1/312; al-Humaydi, no. 1025; and Abu Nuʿaym, Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ, 6/283 and 7/317, all with an authentic chain. It has a corroborating mursal report related by ʿAbd al-Razzaq in al-Musannaf, 1/406, no. 1587.