Muslim, it is reported that he said five days before his death:

“Those who came 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.”

It is also reported in the Sahīh of Muslim that he said:

“Do not sit on graves, and do not pray towards them.”

He—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—thus forbade taking graves as places of worship and praying towards them. He cursed the Jews and Christians because they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship, for this was the first cause of polytheism among Noah’s people. Allah Most High said of them:

“And they said, ‘Never abandon your gods; never abandon Wadd, Suwā‘, Yaghūth, Ya‘ūq, or Nasr.’ And they have already led many astray.”

Ibn ‘Abbās and others among the early generations said: These were righteous men among Noah’s people. When they died, the people devoted themselves to staying at their graves, then made images of them, and then worshipped them.

Out of his perfect concern for his community, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—warned them against falling into what the polytheists and the People of the Book had fallen into. He therefore forbade them to take graves as places of worship or to pray towards them, lest they imitate the disbelievers, just as he forbade them to pray at sunrise and sunset lest they imitate the disbelievers.

For this reason, when the chamber was incorporated into his mosque of special merit during the caliphate of al-Walīd ibn ‘Abd al-Malik—as mentioned earlier—they built a wall around it, raised it, and set it at an angle, so that no one would pray towards his noble grave—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

In Mālik’s Muwatta’, it is reported that he said:

“O Allah, do not let my grave become an idol that is worshipped. Allah’s wrath was severe against a people