be left in: nothing is to be built over the graves, nor are mosques to be erected upon them. Yet when domes were constructed atop them and mosques and shrines were attached to them, the ignorant came to believe that those buried inside could benefit or harm, that they rescue whoever calls upon them, and that they fulfill the needs of whoever seeks refuge with them. They therefore offered vows and sacrificial gifts to the dead until the graves became idols worshipped instead of Allah. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “O Allah, do not allow my grave to become an idol that is worshipped.” (1) He only made this supplication because something of that sort would indeed take place at graves other than his, and it has occurred in many Muslim lands. As for his own grave, Allah protected it by virtue of that very supplication. Although some violations may occur in his mosque at the hands of the ignorant or the superstitious, they cannot reach his grave, for it lies within his house, not in the mosque, and it is surrounded by walls—just as the scholar Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his Nuniyyah:

The Lord of all creation answered his plea,
And fenced it round with walls—one, two, three.