and gathering at them on particular occasions, and the like—while adducing this noble verse as proof, together with certain versions of the tale in which the king fixed for them an annual festival and placed their bodies in coffins of teak, drawing one false analogy after another! All of this amounts to open defiance of Allah Most High and His Messenger ﷺ, and to inventing a religion for which Allah, exalted is He, has given no sanction.

To know the truth, it is enough for you to observe what the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did with his grave— the finest grave on the face of the earth—and to note their conduct when they visited him and offered him greetings of peace. Follow that example, compare what goes on there with what is done here, and Allah, glorified and exalted, will guide you.

I say: The same verse has been cited by some contemporaries (1) to argue for the alleged permissibility—and even the recommendation—of building mosques over graves, but from yet another novel angle that differs somewhat.