“… ‘Indeed, some eloquence is like magic; the most wretched of people are those upon whom the Last Hour falls while they are still alive, and those who turn graves into places of worship.’

This chain of transmission is likewise sound. All of its narrators are trustworthy and belong to the transmitters cited by the two Ṣaḥīḥs, with the exception of Qays—Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ—whose ḥadith is acceptable, especially when supported by corroborating routes. Taken together, the two isnāds render the report authentic in my judgment. Allah knows best.

Bear in mind that the inference we drew from this ḥadith rests on one of the two interpretations of it, namely that the word “taking” (ittikhādh) refers to facing the grave in prayer. Al-Bayḍāwī said:

“Because the Jews and Christians used to prostrate at the tombs of their prophets in veneration of them, making those tombs a qiblah (direction of prayer) toward which they turned and treating them as idols, the Prophet ﷺ cursed them and forbade the Muslims from doing the like.”

In our view, the purport of the ḥadith is broader than what al-Bayḍāwī has stated, as will soon be clarified, Allah willing.

Among the astonishing misreadings that run counter to the intent—if not the very wording—of the Prophet’s ḥadith is al-Bayḍāwī’s further comment:

“As for the one who builds a mosque beside a righteous person’s grave, or prays in a cemetery, intending thereby to draw strength from his spirit or to receive some blessing from the traces of his worship, without exalting him or facing him, there is no harm in that.”

Such is what he said, yet the idolatrous traces and misguidance it contains are obvious; safe is the one whom Allah safeguards.