among the believers. All of this concerns the invalidity and falsehood of the claim that the head of al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with him, is in Cairo or Ascalon.

We further say: whether this claim is true or false, building mosques over graves is not part of the religion of the Muslims. Rather, it is prohibited by texts authentically transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and by the agreement of the leading religious scholars. Indeed, it is impermissible to take graves as places of worship, whether by building mosques over them or by deliberately seeking to pray beside them. The leading religious scholars agree that this is prohibited and that no one may deliberately seek to pray beside anyone’s grave, whether that of a prophet or anyone else.

Anyone who says that deliberately seeking to pray beside someone’s grave, at a mosque built over a grave, at a shrine, or elsewhere is prescribed—such that it is recommended and better than praying in a mosque containing no grave—has departed from the religion and opposed the consensus of the Muslims. Anyone who says or believes this must be called upon to repent. If he repents, so be it; otherwise, he is to be executed.

Indeed, no one may pray in mosques built over graves, even without intending to pray beside those graves. Such prayer is not acceptable, whether incidental or deliberately sought, because it entails imitating the polytheists and opens the way to associating partners with Allah, and because of the obligation to warn against this