they were accustomed to—burial in open ground—so that no one would pray at his grave and turn it into a place of worship, thereby making his grave an idol.
In the days of the Companions and Successors, while the “Prophet’s chamber” remained separate from the mosque—until the time of al-Walīd ibn ‘Abd al-Malik—no one would enter it to pray there, rub the grave, or supplicate there. Rather, they did all of this only in the mosque. When the early generations among the Companions and Successors greeted the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and wished to supplicate, they would face the qiblah, not the grave.
As for a Muslim standing at his grave, Abū Hanīfah said: “He should face the qiblah here too, not the grave.” Most of the imams, however, said: “Rather, he should face the grave only when greeting him with peace.” None of the imams said that one should face the grave when supplicating—that is, when supplicating for oneself—except in a fabricated account attributed to Mālik, whose school holds the contrary. The imams agreed that one should neither touch the Prophet’s grave—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—nor kiss it.
All of this is to safeguard monotheism, for turning graves into places of worship is among the origins of associating partners with Allah. Thus, concerning the words of Allah Most High:
“And they said, ‘Do not abandon your gods; do not abandon Wadd, Suwā‘, Yaghūth, Ya‘ūq, or Nasr.’”
A group of the early generations said: “These were righteous men