of its beauty and the images within it. He said:

“When a righteous man among those people died, they built a place of worship over his grave and made images therein. They will be the worst of creation before Allah on the Day of Resurrection.” (1)

In Sahīh Muslim, Jundub relates that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said five days before his death:

“Indeed, those before you used to take graves as places of worship. Do not take graves as places of worship, for I forbid you to do so. I declare to every intimate friend that I relinquish his intimate friendship. Had I taken an intimate friend from among the people of the earth, I would have taken Abū Bakr as an intimate friend. But your companion is the intimate friend of Allah”—meaning himself. (2)

It is related from him in the Sunan that he said:

“Do not turn my grave into a recurring gathering place. Invoke blessings upon me wherever you may be, for your invocations of blessing reach me.” (3)

It is related in al-Muwatta and elsewhere that he said:

“O Allah, do not make my grave an idol that is worshipped. Allah’s wrath was fierce against people who took the graves of their prophets as places of worship.” (4))

It is related in the Musnad and the Sahīh of Abū Hātim, from Ibn Masūd, that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—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.” (5))