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Is it permitted to build on graves? How do we understand the hadiths interdicting this?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Muhammad Qaylish

Is it permitted to build on graves? How do we understand the hadiths interdicting this?

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate. May His abundant blessing and most perfect of peace be on His Beloved Prophet, the best of creation, and his family, companions and followers.

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

It is prohibited to build on graves with the intention of adornment, and disliked if it is for reinforcement after burial. Another position states that it is not disliked to build on graves if the deceased is one of the scholars, people of knowledge, or nobles (sadaat), in other than designated endowment graveyards, where this remains disliked.

It has related from Abu Hanifa that it is disliked to build over graves, whether an edifice, dome, or the like, because of what Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) related, that, “The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) forbade plastering graves, writing over them, and building over them.” [Reported by Muslim and others]

It is not wrong to write upon graves if it is needed in order that the traces of the grave not be lost and that it not be dishonored. This is because the interdiction, though soundly established, is conditioned by the practical consensus (ijma` `amali) that it is permitted to write upon graves when there is need. This was mentioned by Ibn Abidin in his Hashiya.

We have observed that our scholars dislike embellishing graves and building upon them for adornment. As for building upon them to prevent that they be dug up (in order to steal the coffin), it is permitted to the extent of the need through istihsan (legal preference out of secondary considerations).

As for what we see at the graves of the scholars and the righteous of building, we have mentioned that there is a less strong position [in the Hanafi school] that this is permitted if the deceased is from the scholars or people of learning. At the same time, it is from scrupulousness to avoid building upon graves for other than protection from theft, to the extent of this need.

And Allah knows best

– Muhammad Qaylish.

Shaykh Muhammad Qaylish is a young scholar of Hanafi fiqh, usul, aqida, and hadith from Aleppo (Syria). He is a close student of Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri, Shaykh Mahmoud Masri, Shaykh Nur al-Din Itr, Shaykh Adib Kallas, Shaykh Abd al-Razzaq al-Halabi, Shaykh Wali al-Din Farfour, and other notable scholars of Damascus and Aleppo. He is a direct descendent of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), and currently finishing his Master’s in Islamic Law, specializing in the Legal Theory (usul al-fiqh).

1- هل يجوز البناء على القبور ، وكيف نفهم الأحاديث التي تنهى عنه . الجواب: يحرم البناء على القبور بقصد الزينة ويكره لو للإحكام بعد الدفن . وقيل لا يكره البناء إذا كان الميت من المشايخ والعلماء والسادات، في غير المقابر المسبلة ، وأما فيها فيكره أيضاً. وعن أبي حنيفة يكره أن يبني عليه بناء من بيت أو قبة أو نحو ذلك لما روى جابر : نهى رسول الله e عن تجصيص القبور وأن يكتب عليها وأن يبنى عليها رواه مسلم وغيره. ولا بأس بالكتابة إن احتيج إليها حتى لا يذهب الأثر ولا يمتهن. لأن النهي وإن صح فإن الإجماع العملي على جواز الكتابة عند الحاجة إليها . ذكر ذلك ابن عابدين في حاشيته. وقد رأينا مشايخنا يكرهون زخرفة القبور والبناء عليها للزينة ، أما للصيانة عن النبش – والنبش هو سرقة الكفن – وبقدر هذه الحاجة فيجوز استحساناً. أما ما نراه عند قبور العلماء والصالحين من بناء ، فقد أسلفنا أن هناك قولاً ضعيفاً: لا يكره إذا كان الميت من المشايخ والعلماء. لكن على جميع الأحوال الورع عدم البناء إلا للصيانة عن النبش . فيجوز للحاجة.

 

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