For he forbade that practice at the very end of his life, and while on his death-bed he cursed anyone who did it. Performing prayer at the graveside therefore falls under the same prohibition, even if no mosque is erected there. This is what she meant when she said, “He feared it would be taken as a place of worship,” for the Companions would never have built a mosque around his grave.

Every spot that people deliberately choose for prayer has thereby been turned into a mosque; indeed, any place where the prayer is performed is called a mosque, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “The whole earth has been made for me a place of worship and a means of purification.”⦗1⦘

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These are the words of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, in which he clarifies what the preceding ḥadīths in this chapter indicate.

Clarification of Ibn Taymiyyah’s statements:
• His words, “He forbade it at the end of his life,” refer to the ḥadīth of Jundub.
• His words, “Then, while in the throes of death, he cursed whoever did it,” refer to the ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah.
• His words, “And praying at them falls under that ruling,” mean that this, too, is treating graves as mosques.
• His words, “even if no mosque is built,” mean that praying at graves counts as taking them for mosques, an act whose doer is cursed, even without constructing a building.
• His words, “This is the meaning of her statement: He feared it would be taken as a mosque,” explain ʿĀʾishah’s reasoning for the Prophet ﷺ being buried in his house and for not exposing his grave.
• His words, “For the Companions would never have built a mosque around his grave,” mean: