the two Sahīh collections, it is reported that a church in Abyssinia was mentioned to him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—along with its beauty and the images it contained. He said:

“When a righteous man among those people died, they would build a place of worship over his grave and make those images inside it. Those are the worst of creation before Allah on the Day of Resurrection.”

The two Sahīh collections also report that during his final illness, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“May Allah curse the Jews and Christians: they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship.”

He was warning against what they had done. ‘Ā’ishah said: “Were it not for that, his grave would have been left in the open, but he disliked its being taken as a place of worship.”

In the Musnad of Ahmad and the Sahīh of Abū Hātim, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is reported to have said:

“Among the worst of people are those whom the Hour overtakes while they are still alive, and those who take graves as places of worship.”

In the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd and elsewhere, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is reported to have said:

“Do not make my grave a place of recurring gatherings. Send blessings upon me wherever you are, for your blessings reach me.”

In Mālik’s Muwatta’, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is reported to have said:

“O Allah, do not make my grave an idol that is worshipped. Severe was Allah’s wrath against people who took the graves of their prophets as places of worship.”

In Sahīh Muslim, Abū al-Hayyāj al-Asadī reported:

“‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—said to me: ‘Shall I not send you on the same mission on which the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—sent me? He commanded me not to leave any raised grave without levelling it, or any representation without obliterating it.’”

Thus, he commanded him to erase both forms of representation: the image depicting the deceased and the standing structure rising above his grave. For polytheism arises through both.