Question : A question was asked about the ruling regarding praying in a mosque that contains a grave.

Fatwa in Brief: Mosques that have graves are not to be prayed in; and doing so is illegal.

Shaykh Ibn Baz, Majmu‘ Fatawa wa Maqalat, 5/388-389

Response:

If the purpose for praying to the grave is to honor it then it is illegal and not valid, regardless of the position of the grave. But if this is not the purpose then it is makruha, while valid if the grave is in front of the person praying, otherwise it is not even makruh.

Commentary:

In the hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet (upon him be peace) is reported to have said: “God fought the Jews, those who used the graves of their Prophets as mosques”. There is another hadith in Muslim in which, five days before his death, the Prophet (upon him be peace) said: “Beware of those who preceded you; for they used to take the graves of their Prophets and righteous men as places of worship. You must not take graves as mosques, I forbid you to do that”. [From the six Canonical hadith collections] All except al-Bukhari and Ibn Majah include hadiths in which the Prophet (upon him be peace) says: “Do not pray to graves and do not sit on them”. Discussing these hadiths, some scholars said that it is wrong to take graves as places of worship; while it is not wrong to build the mosque first, and then the grave later, so that the mosque attendant (waqif) and others may be buried there. In response to this, al-‘Iraqi observes: “that there is no difference here, whether the mosque was built with or without the intention that a part of it should be used as a burial ground. Such an action [burying someone within a mosque] is prohibited. There can be no bargaining as to whether this is permitted, it goes against the fundamental nature of the mosque itself”.

While burying a person in a mosque is prohibited according to some scholars [such as al-‘Iraqi], it is only disliked (makruh) according to others. There is also disagreement as to whether or not the location of the grave is important; [that is to say, it may be more disliked] if it is positioned in front of the praying place, behind it, on its right or left. Some say it is disliked if the grave is in front. This is because what lies in front of the worshipper signifies the direction of prayer; in this sense, the grave takes the place of the mosque [as the main vehicle of one’s prayers]. However, if the grave is positioned behind, or to the right or left of the worshipper there is no harm in this.

The three Imams believe that the prayer of someone near a grave is valid and is not [even] legally disliked. In contrast, however, if the grave positioned in front of place of prayer, they consider prayer in such a place to be disliked. One’s prayers, nevertheless, remain valid. According to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, however, praying near a graveyard is forbidden (haram), which means that one’s prayers are rendered invalid. This disagreement only concerns the graves that are located within a mosque. However, if the graves are kept separate from the mosque, and people pray in the mosque and not at the gravesite itself, there is no disagreement between the scholars that this act is permitted, and not even disliked.

[At the same time,] If the purpose of the prayer in the direction of the grave is to honor it [the grave], then [there is no disagreement] this is haram. One’s prayers, in this instance, are invalid regardless of the position of the grave. However, if there is no intention to honour the grave, then this practice is merely disliked. Thus, the Muslim’s prayers remain valid.

Dr. Ahmad ‘Id