the prophets or the righteous. If what he said were true, the burial place of every prophet—indeed, of every righteous person—would be superior to the mosques, which are the houses of Allah. Thus, the houses of created beings would be superior to the houses of the Creator, which Allah has ordained to be raised and His name remembered therein. This is an innovated view in religion, contrary to the foundations of Islam.

He was also asked:

“Two men disputed. One said, ‘The soil of the grave of Muhammad the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is superior to the heavens and the earth.’ The other said, ‘The Kaaba is superior.’ Which of them is correct?”

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. As for Muhammad himself, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, Allah has created no being more honoured in His sight than him. As for the soil itself, it is not superior to the Kaaba, the Sacred House; rather, the Kaaba is superior to it. No scholar is known to have held the soil of the grave to be superior to the Kaaba except al-Qādī 'Iyād. No one preceded him in this view, nor did anyone agree with him on it. And Allah knows best.