Question:
We learnt from Shaykh Abdul- ‘Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz that domes and other buildings on graves are impermissible. So, what is the ruling on the green dome found on the grave of the Noble Messenger (peace be upon him) in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah?
Answer:
There is no doubt that the Prophet (peace be upon him) prohibited building on graves and cursed the Jews and the Christians for taking the graves as places of worship. He (peace be upon him) said: “May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians as they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship”
The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said in a Hadith that was related by Muslim in his Sahih on the authority of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he prohibited plastering graves as well as sitting and building on them. In another version narrated by Al-Tirmidhi and others, the Prophet (peace be upon him) also prohibited writing on the graves. It is prohibited to build on graves and take them as places of worship. The Prophet (peace be upon him) warned us against that. His command was accepted by the scholars and they forbade people from doing that in implementation of the pure Sunnah.
Nevertheless, we find people in many countries building on graves, taking them as places of worship and building domes on them as well. All this contradicts the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and is counted among the gravest means that lead to Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) and exceeding proper limits with regard to the dead. Hence, no Muslim should be deceived and imitate such people in what they do because people’s acts are judged by the Qur’an and the Sunnah; whatever agrees with them or one of them will be accepted, otherwise, it will be rejected.
Allah (Exalted be He) says : “And in whatsoever you differ, the decision thereof is with Allah (He is the ruling Judge).” [Al-Shura: 10]
Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) says as well: “(And) if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him),” [Al-Nisa: 59]
As for the green dome found on the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him), it is something that was newly introduced by some of the rulers in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah in the late ninth century. Undoubtedly, they were mistaken and what they did indicates their ignorance. This was not done, however, during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him) or during the era of his Companions and their two successive generations. Rather, it took place in later centuries when ignorance was rampant, knowledge was scarce and Bid’ah (innovation in religion) was widespread.
Hence, Muslims should not be deceived by this and should not take it as an example to follow. Probably those who ruled Al-Madinah and the Muslims left it that way for fear of Fitnah (temptation, trial, sedition) that might be aroused by some of the common people. They chose to avoid Fitnah because some people, who do not have insight, might have said that they made changes to the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and this would lead to the rise of unnecessary Fitnah that might cause great harm.
Apparently, and Allah knows best, it was left for that reason, namely, the Fitnah that could be aroused by some ignorant people who could accuse whoever removes this dome of belittling the Prophet (peace be upon him)or of violating his sanctity. This is typical of those who worship the graves and who exceed the proper limits with regard to the dead. They hasten to accuse whoever calls to Tawhid (belief in the Oneness of Allah/ monotheism) and warns against Shirk and Bid’ah of various defects and charges and says that they hate the Prophet (peace be upon him) or the Awliya’ (pious people). They may also say that they violate the sanctity of the Prophet (peace be upon him) or the like of such falsehoods.
Apart from that, there is no doubt that the one who built that dome made a mistake and committed a Bid’ah and contradicted the commands of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who warned against building on graves and taking them as places of worship. The first building is the house of ‘Aishah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was buried in the house of Aishah as the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) feared the Fitnah that might arise if they buried him in Al-Baqi’ (the graveyard of Madinah, near the Prophet’s Mosque). Hence, they buried him in the house of ‘Aishah and then buried with him his two Companions: Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them). He was not buried in the Masjid (mosque), but in the house of ‘Aishah. Then, when the Masjid was expanded during the era of Al-Walid Ibn ‘Abdul-Malik at the end of the first Hijrah century, he included the room to the Masjid.
Thus, some ignorant people thought that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was buried in the Masjid, even though this was not correct. The truth, however, is that he was buried in the house of ‘Aishah outside the Masjid. Thus, no one can take this as evidence to support the permissibility of burying the dead in Masjids. Masjids should have no graves and no Masjid should be built on a grave, because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) warned about that and said: “May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians for taking the graves of their prophets as places of worship.” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their two books of Sahih).
Moreover, Imam Muslim (may Allah be merciful with him) related in his Sahih on the authority of Jundub Ibn ‘Abdullah Al-Bajali that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) five days before his death saying : “Allah took me as an intimate friend just as He took Ibrahim as an intimate friend. Had it been possible for me to take an intimate friend from my Ummah, I would have taken Abu Bakr as an intimate friend. Those before you used to take the graves of their prophets and pious people as places of worship. Do not take them as Masjids (places of worship). I forbid you from that.”
So, the Prophet (peace be upon him) dispraised those who take graves as places of worship. He prohibits this practice in two ways, by saying: “Do not take them as Masjids” and “I forbid you from that”. This is meant to confirm the warning and prohibition from three aspects:
This clarifies to us and to every sensible Muslim that building over graves and constructing domes on them and taking them as places of worship contradict the Shari’ah (Islamic law) of Allah that was brought by the Prophet (peace be upon him). It also becomes clear that this practice is Munkar (that which is unacceptable or disapproved of by Islamic law and Muslims of sound intellect), a Bid’ah and a means leading to Shirk. When the common and ignorant people saw such graves glorified because of the domes built on them, as well as the Masjids and so on, they thought that it could be of benefit to them - that is, the dead could answer their Du’a (supplication), bring the absent back and cure the sick. Hence, they invoked the graves, sought relief from them, made vows for them and thereby fell into Shirk because of that.
Thus, it is obligatory for scholars everywhere to warn people of this evil and to clarify the fact that building on graves is Munkar and Bid’ah and that the same ruling applies to building domes and Masjids on such graves. Common people must know that this is counted among the means of Shirk, so that they would avoid it. All people must know that these things took place after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and after the era of his Companions and the two successive generations. Knowing that, they would avoid such practices. The Shar’i (Islamically lawful) visit of the graves is to visit them to greet the dead with peace, make Du’a for them and ask Allah (Exalted be He) to have mercy on them. Graves should not be visited for the purpose of invoking the dead or asking them to fulfill one’s needs and relieve distress, because this is Shirk and such things are exclusive to Allah (Exalted be He).
Nonetheless, the ignorant people and the Mushriks (one who associates others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) replaced this Shar’i visit with Munkar and Shirkiyyah (creed that associate others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) visit out of ignorance and error. Among the reasons that led to Shirk and Bid’ah is the presence of such buildings, domes and Masjids on the graves. Another reason is the silence of many scholars regarding that issue, either because of their ignorance of the Shari’ah ruling on this or because they gave up on the public and believed it would be useless to talk about this as they could see how eager they were to do this and how they defended it.
It is the duty of scholars everywhere to clarify for people what Allah (Exalted be He) has forbidden them from doing and what He has enjoined upon them and to warn them of Shirk, along with its causes and means. Scholars are responsible for common people and Allah (Exalted be He) ordered them to convey and clarify His commands and prohibitions and He forbade them from concealing this.
See also: The dome on the grave of the Prophet is no pretext