Are we allowed to pray in a mosque while the immediate vicinity is a graveyard.
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Assalumualaikum w.b. Are we allowed to pray in a
mosque while the immediate vicinity is a graveyard. Im asking this because i`ve
heard that there is forbidden to pray at those areas. If this is so could u
please supply the surah or hadith as proof. Im having doubts as the nearest
mosque to my work place is one where it is just next to a graveyard. so this is
the mosque that i frequent for my friday prayers. Hope to get your reply soon
enough before this friday.
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Pray in Mosque next to
graveyard
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai, nobody!) worthy of
worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His
slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Aishah reports
that the Prophet (saws) said: "Allah cursed the Jews and Christians
[because] they took the graves of their Prophets as mosques."
Related by
al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, and an-Nasai.
Abu Marthad
al-Ghanawi reported that the Prophet (saws) said: "Do not pray facing a
grave and do not sit on one."
Related by Muslim
and Ahmad.
Jundub ibn
'Abdullah al-Bajali heard the Prophet say, five days before he died: "The
people before you took graves as mosques. I prohibit this to you."
Related by Muslim
and Ahmad.
Aishah reports
that Umm Salamah mentioned the churches she saw in
Related by
al-Bukhari, Muslim, and an-Nasai.
Sunan of
Abu-Dawood Hadith 492 Narrated by Sa'id
The Prophet (saws)
said: ‘The whole earth is a place of prayer (masjid) except public baths and
graveyards.’
Your Question: Are we allowed to pray in a mosque
while the immediate vicinity is a graveyard. Im asking this because i`ve heard
that there is forbidden to pray at those areas.
In light of the above quoted
authentic ahaadeeths of the Messenger of Allah (saws), it is considered
prohibited to offer prayers in a graveyard.
But if the believers have
constructed and assigned a mosque in the vicinity of or outside a graveyard,
there is absolutely no harm in offering prayers in such mosques.
But if the mosque contains a
grave or graves, or the mosque is built amidst graves or the mosque is in the
graveyard itself, then it would neither be permissible for believers who
sincerely fear Allah and the Last Day to build such mosques nor offer prayers
in them.
Most graveyards in muslim
nations and communities today have a masjid built near them to accommodate the
easy burial of the deceased, but these mosques are built distinctly outside the
graveyards; thus there is absolutely no harm in offering prayers in such
mosques.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best
and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
Wister