for Abū Hanīfa and Ahmad hold that mounding graves is preferable, as is established in the Sahih:
“The Prophet’s grave—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—was mounded.” (1)
This is also further removed from resembling ordinary buildings and better prevents people from sitting (2) on graves. Al-Shāfiʿī, however, recommends flattening them because of the reported command to level (3) graves, understanding “leveling” to mean flattening (4). Then one of his followers said:
“[Indeed] (5) this is a hallmark of the Rāfidah, so it should be regarded as disliked.”
The majority of his followers disagreed with him (6), saying, “Rather, it remains recommended even if the Rāfidah practice it.”
Likewise, reciting “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” aloud is (7) the position of the Rāfidah. Some people criticized al-Shāfiʿī because of this and because of (8) the qunūt supplication, associating him with the position of the Rāfidah and the Qadariyyah, since it was well known in Iraq that reciting it aloud [was] (9) a hallmark (10) of
(1) Sufyān al-Tammār relates in al-Bukhārī, vol. 2 (Book of Funerals, chapter “Reports Concerning the Grave of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and Those of Abū Bakr and Umar”), that he saw the Prophet’s grave—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and it was mounded. Lisān al-Arab states: “A grave is described as mounded when it is raised above the ground. Whatever rises above something has surmounted it. Mounding a grave is the opposite of flattening it.”
(2) A and B read: “and further removed from sitting.”
(3) W reads: “the command to flatten.”
(4) For the legal ruling on this issue and the disagreement among the imams, see Ibn Qudāma, al-Mughnī, 2:420–421; Sheikh Muhammad Nāsir al-Dīn al-Albānī, Ahkām al-Janā’iz, pp. 153–156, 207–209 (Beirut ed., 1388/1969). Al-Albānī states on p. 153: “It is Sunnah … for the grave to be raised slightly above the ground, approximately one handspan, and not made level with the ground, so that it remains distinguishable, protected, and not dishonored.”
(5) “Indeed” is added in A and B.
(6) A reads: “Thus all the followers disagreed with them”; B reads: “And all the followers disagreed with them.”
(7) N and M read: “and it is”; W uses the feminine form: “it is.”
(8) A and B read: “and the reason for.”
(9) “Was” is omitted in N, M, and S.
(10) W reads: “hallmarks.”