I say: This does not establish purity of place as a condition; it merely indicates an obligation, as stated earlier. The same holds for the other texts he cited: all of them are commands that signify no more than obligation. We have already quoted al-Nawawī’s remarks—mentioned at the end of the second issue—and supplied what is sufficient there, so consult it.

(6) Prayer is impermissible in ten locations:

The first is a graveyard, meaning any spot in which one or more human beings have been buried, because the Prophet ﷺ said, “The whole earth is a mosque except a graveyard and a bathhouse.”

Whether the grave lies before the worshipper, to his right, to his left, or behind him makes no difference; however, facing it during prayer is more serious, for the Messenger ﷺ declared, “Allah’s curse is upon the Jews and Christians; they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship,” and he also said, “Among the worst of people are those upon whom the Hour arrives while they are alive, and those who take graves as places of worship.”

The first ḥadith is transmitted by Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī. It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd, al-Ḥākim, al-Bayhaqī, Ibn Ḥazm, and Aḥmad through ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād; by al-Tirmidhī, al-Dāramī, again al-Ḥākim, and al-Bayhaqī through ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad al-Darāwardī; and by Ibn Mājah, al-Bayhaqī, Ibn Ḥazm, and Aḥmad through Ḥammād ibn Salamah—all three routes from ʿAmr ibn Yaḥyā al-Anṣārī, from his father, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, with a chain traced back to the Prophet.