forbid it—a view held by a group of scholars. But this view is weak, because the Sunnah distinguishes between camels’ resting places and sheepfolds; because he excluded graveyards from being places of prayer, so they are not places for prostration; and because he emphatically prohibited this, saying five days before his death:

“Those before you used to take graves as places of worship. Beware! Do not take graves as places of worship, for I forbid you to do so.”

He also pronounced a curse on those who did this, saying:

“May Allah curse the Jews and Christians: they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship.”

He was warning against what they had done. Moreover, he described such people as the worst of creation, saying:

“When a righteous man among those people died, they would build a place of worship over his grave and make those images within it. Those are the worst of creation before Allah on the Day of Resurrection.”

Furthermore, his Sunnah establishes that the mere possibility of the ground being impure does not make prayer upon it disliked. Indeed, his Sunnah establishes that the ground becomes pure through exposure to the sun and wind, and through transformation. This is the position of several groups of scholars, including Abū Hanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī according to one opinion, and Mālik according to one opinion. It is also one of the two positions within Ahmad’s school.

For it is established that dogs used to come and go and urinate in the mosque of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, yet they would not sprinkle water over any of those spots. It is also established in the Sahīh:

“He used to pray in his sandals.”

The Sunan collections also report that he said:

“The Jews do not pray in their sandals, so differ from them.”

He also said: “When someone comes