Green Dome over the Prophet’s grave

Question:

There are those who take the building of the green dome over the Prophet’s grave in the Prophet’s Mosque as evidence that it is permissible to build domes over other graves, such as those of the righteous and others. Is this argument correct or what should our response to them be? 

Answer:

It is not correct to quote the fact that people built a dome over the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as evidence that it is permissible to build domes over the graves of the righteous dead and others, because those people’s building a dome over his (peace be upon him) grave was haram and those who did it sinned thereby, because they went against what is proven in a report from Abu Al-Hayyaj Al-Asadi who said: Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me: Shall I not send you on the same mission as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent me? Do not leave any image without erasing it or any high grave without levelling it. 

And it was narrated that Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade plastering over graves, or sitting on them or building over them. Both reports were narrated by Muslim in his Sahih.

So it is not correct for anyone to quote the haram action of some people as evidence that it is permissible to do similar haram actions, because it is not permissible to go against the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) by citing the words or actions of anyone else. And because he is the one who conveyed the command from Allah, and he is the one who is to be obeyed, and we must beware of going against his commands, because Allah says: “And whatsoever the Messenger (peace be upon him) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it)” [Al-Hashr :7]. 

And there are other verses which enjoin obedience to Allah and to His Messenger. And because building up graves and erecting domes over them are means that lead to associating their occupants with Allah, and the means that lead to shirk must be blocked. ¹

Scholars of Al-Lajnah Al-Daimah also said: “There is no proof in the fact that a dome was set up over the Prophet’s grave for those who take it as an excuse for building domes of the graves of the saints and righteous people, because the building of a dome over his grave was not done on his instructions and was not done by any of his Companions (Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them), or by the Tabi’in (the generations after the Sahabah), or by any of the imams of guidance in the early generations whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) testified were good. Rather it was done by people of bid’ah. It was proven that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever introduces anything into this matter of ours that is not part of it will have it rejected.”

And it was proven that ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Abu Al-Hayyaj: Shall I not send you on the same mission as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent me? Do not leave any image without erasing it or any high grave without levelling it. Narrated by Muslim.

As it is not proven that he (peace be upon him) built a dome over his grave, and it is not proven from any of the leading imams; rather what is proven shows that to be an invalid action, and no Muslim should feel any attachment to the action of innovators (those who introduce religious innovations in Islam) who built a dome over the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him).” ²

Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:  There is a specious argument put forward by those who worship graves, namely the fact that the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is in his mosque. The answer to that is that the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) did not bury him in his mosque, rather they buried him in the house of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). When Al-Walid ibn ‘Abdul-Malik expanded the Mosque of the Prophet (peace be upon him) at the end of the first century, he incorporated the room into the mosque, but he did wrong thereby, and some of the scholars denounced him for that, but he believed that there was nothing wrong with it for the sake of expanding the mosque. It is not permissible for a Muslim to take that as evidence that mosques may be built over graves, or that people may be buried inside mosques, because that goes against the sahih hadiths, and because it is a means that may lead to shirk by associating the occupants of the graves in worship with Allah. ³

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih Al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: With regard to the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him) which is incorporated into his mosque, it is well known that the Mosque of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was built before his death, and was not built over his grave. It is also well known that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was not buried in the mosque, rather he was buried in his house which was separate from the mosque. At the time of Al-Walid ibn Abdul-Malik he wrote to his governor in Madinah, who was ‘Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz, in 88 AH, ordering him to dismantle the Prophet’s Mosque and add to it the rooms of the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him). ‘Umar gathered the prominent people and fuqaha’, and read the letter of the caliph Al-Walid to them. That caused them distress, and they said: “Leave it as it is, that is better.” And it was narrated that Sa’id ibn Al-Musayyib denounced the incorporation of ‘Aishah’s room into the mosque, as if he feared that the grave would be taken as a place of worship. Umar wrote a letter to that effect to Al-Walid, and Al-Walid sent word to him ordering him to carry out his instructions, so ‘Umar had no other choice. So you see that the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was not placed in the mosque, and the mosque was not built over it, so there are no grounds for those who try to quote this as evidence that people may be buried inside mosques or that mosques may be built over graves. It is proven that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “May the curse of Allah be upon the Jews and the Christians; they have taken the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.” He said that as he was dying, as a warning to his ummah against doing what they did. When Umm Salamah told him of a church that she had seen in Ethiopia and the images therein, he said: “Those people, if a righteous man among them died, they would build a place of worship over his grave. They are the most evil of people before Allah.” And it was narrated from Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Among the most evil of people upon whom the Hour will come when they are still alive are those who take graves as places of worship.” Narrated by Imam Ahmad with a jayyid isnad. The believer should not accept to follow the ways of the Jews and the Christians, or to be among the most evil of people. 

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