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Praying in a mosque where there is a tomb

Question

In the mosque compound there is a tomb (one grave builded with a cement bricks two feet high) but not inside prayer area, its located in the complex of the mosque. Please give Fatwa if permissible to make prayers (all Ibaadah) in this mosque?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

It is not permitted and not accepted to pray in a mosque where there is a tomb, as the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) forbade us from doing so in many narrations. For instance, he  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said: "Beware of turning graves into places of worship (mosques). I forbid you from doing so." [Muslim] The scholars may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them agreed that the prohibition here is imperative and implies nullifying the act of worship. However, if the tomb is in a separate room outside the boundaries of the mosque, as the questioner stated, then this tomb is not connected to the mosque and in this case it is permissible to pray in the mosque because it is separate from the tomb. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa: 87303.

Allaah knows best.

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