As for the third interpretation, it is the one endorsed by Imām al-Bukhārī, for he entitled the first ḥadīth: “Chapter: What is disliked about building mosques over graves.”

By wording the heading this way he indicated that the prohibition against turning a grave into a place of prayer necessarily entails a prohibition against constructing a mosque upon it—something self-evident. Al-Manāwī stated this explicitly, as mentioned earlier, and Ibn Ḥajar commented on the ḥadīth:

“Al-Kirmānī said: The ḥadīth conveys the prohibition of taking a grave as a mosque, whereas the chapter title speaks of building a mosque over a grave; their literal implications differ. The answer is that the two are inseparable, even if their wording is not identical.”

This is the very point Lady ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) alluded to at the end of the first ḥadīth: “Had it not been for that, his grave would have been left open, but it was feared that it would be taken as a mosque.”