Question:
May Allah be good to you, Your Eminence Shaykh, this questioner asks: How do we respond to the Sufis who cite the grave of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and [the fact] that he is buried inside his mosque?
Answer:
He is not [originally] inside his mosque; he is buried inside his mosque, peace and blessings be upon him, [because] the rooms were originally outside the mosque. The prophetic chambers—the rooms of the wives of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him—were outside the mosque. However, when the mosque was rebuilt and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, was the governor of Medina, the ruler ordered him to incorporate the chambers into the mosque. So he incorporated them during the era of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz because he was the governor of Medina, and he incorporated them by order of the ruler.