and basins like reservoirs and heavy cauldrons fixed in place.(1) To use this passage as proof against the authentic hadiths that prohibit statues and images is absurd; no Muslim who believes in the Messenger’s ﷺ reports would ever argue in that way.

With this the discussion of the first specious argument—namely the appeal to the verse in Sūrat al-Kahf(2) and everything that branched out from it—comes to an end.

Reply to the second specious argument

The second objection is the claim that the Prophet’s ﷺ grave lies inside his mosque, as is visible today; therefore, they say, had it been unlawful he would not have been buried there.

The answer is that, although this is what one sees today, the matter was not so in the time of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them. When the Prophet ﷺ passed away they buried him in his apartment, which adjoined the mosque. A wall with a doorway separated the two, and through that door he ﷺ used to enter the mosque. This fact is well known and categorically established among the scholars, and no