Part 4 Consultation amongst the Companions - radiAllaah anhum - of where the Messenger - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – was to be buried

The Ruling of the Dome Built upon the Grave

of the

Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam

By the

Shaykh, Muhadith of the land of Yemen

Muqbil bin Hadi al-Waadi'ee

                                                           

Translated by

Abbas Abu Yahya

Part 4

Consultation amongst the Companions - radiAllaah anhum - of where the Messenger - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – was to be buried

Al-Hafidh Ibn Katheer -may Allaah have mercy on him- said in 'al-Bidaayah wa Neehiyah' (v.5 p.226) :

Imaam Ahmad said: that Abdur Razaq narrated to us that, Ibn Juraij narrated to him that his father -AbdulAzeez ibn Juraij - told him that the companions of the Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam –  did not know where to bury the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – until Abu Bakr said : I heard the Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam –  say: 'A Prophet is not buried except where he dies.' so they moved his bed  and they dug under his - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – bed.

The chain of this narration is broken between AbdulAzeez and between as-Sadeeq, since he did not meet him. However, it has been narrated by al-Hafidh Abu Ya'ala from the hadeeth of Ibn Abbas and 'Aeysha on the authority of Abu Bakr as-Sadeeq -radiAllaah anhu.

Abu Ya'ala said that Abu Musa al-Harawee narrated to us that Abu Mu'aweeyah narrated to us that Abdur Rahman bin Abee Bakr on the authority Ibn Abee Maleekah on the authority of 'Aeysha who said; The people differed about where the Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – should be buried, when he died.  Abu Bakr said; I heard the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – say: 'The Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – does not die except in the place that is most beloved to him.'  Then Abu Bakr said: bury him where he died.'

It was similarly narrated by at-Tirmidhee on the authority of Abu Kuraib on the authority of Abu Mu'aweeyah on the authority of Abdur Rahmaan bin Abu Bakr al-Maleekee on the authority of Ibn Abu Maleekah on the authority of 'Aeysha who said:

When the Messenger of Allaah  - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – passed away, the people differed about burying him. Abu Bakr said: I heard from the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – something which I never forgot.  He said: 'Allaah did not take away a Prophet except in the place where he would want to be buried.'

Then Abu Bakr said: Bury him in the place of his bed."

At-Tirmidhee regarded al-Maleekee has being weak. Although he narrates this hadeeth in more than one narration. Ibn Abbas narrated it on the authority of Abu Bakr  as-Sadeeq.

Al-Amawee said on the authority of his father on the authority of Ibn Ishaaq on the authority of a man who narrated to him on the authority of 'Urwa on the authority of 'Aeysha that Abu Bakr said: I heard the messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – say: 'A Prophet is not buried except where he dies."

Abu Bakr  bin Abu Duniyaa said that Muhammad bin Sahl At-Tameemee narrated to me, that   Hisham bin Abdulmalik  at -Tayaalissee narrated to him on the authority of Hamad bin Salama on the authority of  Hisham bin 'Urwa on the authority of his father on the authority of Aeysha said :

There were two people who used dig graves in Madeenah. When the Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – died. The people asked where we shall bury him. Abu Bakr -radiAllaah anhu - said; in the place where he died. One of them used to dig a niche into the side of the grave wall and the other used to dig a straight grave.  So, the person who used to dig a niche into the side of the grave wall came and dug a niche into the side of the grave wall for the Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.

It was also narrated by Malik ibn Anas on the authority of Hisham bin 'Urwa on the authority of his father with a broken chain.

I say: Ibn Sa'ad narrated this on the authority of Hisham bin AbdulMalik on his father. And this Sanad authentically stops at as-Sadeeq -radiAllaah anhu.   Ibn Sa'ad also narrated it in v.2 p.70 in the second section from the way of Hamad bin Usamah with a broken chain.

Al-Hafidh Ibn Katheer -may Allaah have mercy on him-  said: ....and Abu Ya'ala said: that Ja'far bin Mahraan narrated to us that Abdul'Alaa narrated to us on the authority of Muhammad bin Ishaaq who narrated to me that Hussain bin Abdullaah narrated on the authority of 'Ikrima on the authority of Ibn Abbas who said: when the Companions wanted to bury the Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarah suggested that they should dig the grave like the way the people of Makkah do.

Abu Talha Zayd bin Sahl used to dig graves for the people of Madeenah, and he used to dig a niche in the grave. Al-Abbas called for two people, he said to one of them: 'Go to Abu Ubaydah.'  And he said to the other: 'Go to Abu Talha.' he continued: 'O Allaah choose him for your Messenger.'

Ibn Abbas mentioned:

'The person who was sent to Abu Talha found him, and he came with him and he dug a niche for the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.   When the Messenger of Allaah had been prepared for burial by the third day he was placed upon his bed in his house.  The Muslims had differed about where he was to be buried. 

Someone said: 'We should bury him in his masjid.' 

Another person said: 'We should bury him with his companions.'

Abu Bakr said: verily I heard the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – say: "A Prophet is not taken away except that he is buried from where he was taken away."

So the bed of the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – in which he died, was lifted up. A grave was dug for him underneath it.

Then the people entered upon the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in groups. Firstly, the men until they had left, and then the women were entered, until they had left, then the children were entered. Not one of the people would want to lead the prayer of the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, therefore the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – was buried in the middle of the fourth night.

This is how lbn Majah narrated it on the authority of Nasr bin 'Alee al-Jahddamee on the authority of Wahhab bin Jareer on the authority of his father on the authority Of Muhammad bin Ishaaq. He mentions it with a similar chain and mentions an extra wording at the end of it with:  "... Of those who entered into the Messenger's grave were 'Alee bin Abu Taalib, Fadl and Qatham the sons of Abbas, and Shuqraan the freed slave of the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, Awoos bin Khawla - he is Abu Layla - said to ‘Alee bin Abi Taalib I implore you for Allaah's sake, give us prosperity from the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – ‘Alee said to him: 'Get down.' Shuqraan- who was his freed slave got into the grave and took the garment which the Messenger of  Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam –  used to wear and buried it in the grave, and he said :I  swear by Allaah no-one  shall wear it after you. So it was buried along with the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.

It was narrated by Imaam Ahmad on the authority of Hussain bin Muhammad on the authority of Jareer bin Haazim on the authority of Ibn Ishaaq, in a summarized form.

It is also narrated by Yunus bin Bukayr and other than him on the authority of Ibn Ishaaq with the same narrator.

Al-Waqeedee narrated on the authority of Ibn Abee Habeebah on the authority of Dawood bin al-Hussain on the authority of Ikrima on the authority of Ibn Abbas on the authority of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq on the authority of the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – "A Prophet is not taken away except that he is buried from where he was taken away."

Bayhaaqi narrated on the authority of al-Hakim on the authority of al-Asam on the authority of Ahmad bin Abdul Jabbar on the authority of Yunus ibn Bukayr on the authority of Muhammad bin Ishaaq on the authority of Muhammad AbdurRahman bin Abdullaah bin al-Hussain or Muhammad bin Jafar bin az-Zubair who said:

'When the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – died, there was a difference of opinion about burying him.  They said: how shall we bury him? With the people or in his house?

Abu Bakr said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – saying: "A Prophet is not taken away except that he is buried where he was taken away."

So, he was buried where his bed used to be, his bed was raised and a grave was dug underneath it.

Al-Waqeedee said: Abdul Hameed bin Jafar narrated on the authority of Uthman bin Muhammad al-Akhnaasee  on the authority of AbdurRahman bin Saeed bin Yarbooa' who said : 'when the Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam –  died, the people differed about where his grave should be placed.

A person said: 'Bury him in Baqi, since he used to seek forgiveness for its inmates a lot.'

Another person said: 'The place of his mimbar.'

Someone else said: 'In his place of prayer.'

Along came Abu Bakr and said: verily I have some information and knowledge regarding this, I heard the Messenger of Allaah say: 'A Prophet is not taken away except that he is buried where he dies.'

Al-hafidh Bayhaaqi said regarding the hadeeth of Yahya bin Sa'eed on the authority of al Qasim bin Muhammad, and regarding the hadeeth of ibn Juraij on the authority of his father. That both of these hadeeth are on the authority of Abu Bakr as-Sadeeq on the authority of the Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam – in the Mursal form. 

Bayhaqi said on the authority of at-Hakim on the authority of al-Assam on the authority of Ahmad bin Abdul Jabar on the authority of Yunus bin Bukayr on the authority of Salmah bin Nabeett bin Shareet on the authority of his father on the authority of Salim bin Ubayd and he was from the companions of as-Suffa who said Abu Bakr entered upon the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - when he died.  When he came out it was asked of him: Has the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - died?  He said: Yes.

So they came to know, that it was as he said.

Then it was asked of him, “Will you pray upon him and how will we pray upon him?”

He said 'you will come in group after group. So they came to know that it was as he said.'

 They said: 'Will he be buried and where will he be buried?'

He answered: 'Where Allaah took away his soul, since Allaah did not take away his soul except in a good place.'

So they came to know that it was as he said.

Bayhaqi narrated from the hadeeth of Sufyaan bin Uyainah on the authority of Yahya bin Sa'eed al-Ansaari on the authority of Sa'eed bin al-Musayib who said: 'Aeysha related her dream to her father, and he was one of the best people to explain her dream.

She said: I saw three moons fall on to my lap.  He said to her: If your dream is true then three of the best people on this earth will be buried in your house.  When the Messenger of Allaah passed away, Abu Bakr said: 'O 'Aeysha this is the best of your moons.'

It has been narrated by Malik on the authority of Yahya bin Sa'eed al-Ansaari on the authority of 'Aeysha, with a broken chain.

It is narrated in Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of 'Aeysha that she mentioned: 'The Messenger - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - died in my home, on my day, and on my lap and neck (she was holding him) and combined our saliva (he used her Miswak) in the last period of his being in this world and the first period of him entering into the hereafter.'

In the Saheeh of al-Bukhari it has been stated from the hadeeth of Abu 'Awaana on the authority of Halaal al-Waaraq on the authority of 'Arwaa on the authority of 'Aeysha that she said; that she heard the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - say during the illness from which he died: 'May Allaah curse the Jews and the Christians, they took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.'

'Aeysha said: If it was not for that, his grave would have been exposed except that he feared that his grave would be taken as a place of prayer.'

Taken from al-Bidayaa wa Nihyaa.

In completion: Ibn Sa'ad said in 'al-Tabaaqat' (v.2 p.7) in the second section.  Muhammad bin Abdullaah al-Ansaari told us that Muhammad bin 'Amroo narrated to us on the authority of  Abu Salama bin Abdur Rahman and Yahya bin Abdur Rahman bin Hatib both said: that Abu Bakr asked: 'Where should the Messenger of Allaah  be buried? A person from amongst them said: 'near his mimbar (pulpit). 

Another person said: where he used to lead the people in prayer.

Abu Bakr then said: Rather he should be buried where Allaah took his soul away.  So his bed was moved away and then a grave was dug under him.

Yahya bin Ebaad told us that Hammad bin Zayed narrated to us that he heard 'Amroo bin Dinaar and UbaydAllaah bin Abu Yazeed both saying: 'There never used to be, at the time of the Messenger of Allaah, a surrounding wall on the Prophet's house.  The first person to build a wall for it was Umar bin al-Khattab.  UbaydAllaah bin Abee Yazeed said: that the wall was short then Abdullaah bin az-Zubair built it after him and extended it.

Muhammad bin Rabeeyah al-Kalaaee told us on the authority of Yahya the freed slave of Uthmaan bin 'Affan who said: It reached me that the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - said: 'Indeed the bodies are buried where their souls are taken up.' 

I (Shaykh Muqbil) say: If this is authentic then it means the bodies of the Prophets, due to the preceding Ahadeeth.

Al-Fadl bin Dukayan told us that Umar bin Dharr told us that he mentioned that Abu Bakr said “I heard my friend say: There is no Prophet who died in a certain place except that he is buried there.”

I asked Ibn Dharr: Who did you hear this from?

He answered: I heard Abu Bakr bin Umar bin Hafs - inshAllaah - that Ma'an bin Esa said that Malik ibn Anas narrated to us, that it reached him that when the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam -  passed away the people said : he should be buried near the mimbar. Some other people said: he should be buried in Baqia'.  Then Abu Bakr said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - say: 'A prophet is not buried except in the place in which Allaah takes away his soul.'

The narrator said: The Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - was moved away from the place he died in, and a grave was dug there for him.'

This is what is mentioned in 'Tabaqat'.

Ibn Zanjaway reported on the authority of Umar the freed slave of Ghafra who said: When they conferred about burying the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - a person said: we should bury him in the place where he used to pray.

Abu Bakr said: Allaah forbid that we make him an idol that is worshipped.

Other people said: we should bury him in Baqia' where he buried his brothers from the Muhajireen.

Abu Bakr said: Indeed we dislike that the grave of the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - should be taken out to Baqia', so that the people seek refuge in him.  Allaah has a right upon him, and the right of Allaah is above the right of the Messenger of Allaah, so if we take him out there then we neglect the right of Allaah. And if we remove it, then we have removed the grave of the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.

The people said: He said “I heard the Messenger of Allaah - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - say: 'Allaah does not take away any Prophet, except that he is buried where his soul is taken away.”

They said: You are - by Allaah, pleasing and convincing. 

Then they marked a line around his bed, and Alee, al-Abbas, al-Fadl and his family carried his bed, and the people began to dig a grave where his bed had been.' 

This has been conveyed from 'Tadheer as-Sajid' by al-Albaani - may Allaah protect him.

So we know from these Ahadeeth the Prophet - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - was buried in his house, as he had commanded them.  Due to this the Quboreeyeen (grave worshippers) have no evidence in erecting buildings on graves, since the building was not erected on his grave - sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam - rather he was buried in his house, as it is understood from the Ahadeeth. Allaah knows best.

All Praise belongs to Allaah, may His peace and blessings be upon our final Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions and all those who follow his guidance.