He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked about these hadiths:
“The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, saw Moses, peace be upon him, praying in his grave; he also saw him circumambulating the House and saw him in heaven. The same is reported of some other prophets. When someone dies, does he continue to perform deeds, even though the hadith states that his deeds come to an end? Does he benefit from this prayer and circumambulation? Did the Prophet see the prophets in these places in their bodies or in their souls?”
He replied:
Praise be to Allah, Lord of all worlds. As for seeing Moses, peace be upon him, circumambulating the House, this was a dream, not something that occurred on the night of the Ascension. This is explicitly explained in the report; he likewise saw the Messiah and the False Messiah.
As for seeing Moses and the other prophets in heaven on the night of the Ascension—when he saw Adam in the lowest heaven, John and Jesus in the second, Joseph in the third, Idrīs in the fourth, Aaron in the fifth, Moses in the sixth, and Abraham in the seventh, or in the reverse order—he saw their souls taking the forms of their bodies.
Some have said that perhaps he saw the actual bodies buried in the graves. This view is without foundation.