Prophet Exhumed the Graves of Polytheists When Building the Mosque
Response to the allegation that the Prophet exhumed the graves of polytheists when building the mosque | Exhuming graves in the Bible and Christianity
Content of the Doubt
The enemies of Islam criticize the Prophet Muhammad and say that he used to dig up the graves of polytheists in order to torture them…
The enemies of Islam cite this narration:
[So he ordered the graves of the polytheists to be exhumed.]
Response to This Ridiculous Suspicion
Firstly:
The enemies of Islam have taken the narration out of context. The narration does not speak about the Prophet mutilating the bodies of the infidels. Rather, the narration speaks about opening the graves of the infidels in order to move them to another location so that the Prophet could expand a suitable space for the mosque in Medina.
The Prophet did not do this to mutilate the bodies of the polytheists, but rather he only moved their remains in order to expand the space for building the mosque in Medina.
This narration does not talk about the polytheists of Quraysh who were hostile to the Prophet, but rather the narration talks about the polytheists of Yathrib who died in the pre-Islamic era, years before Islam. Therefore, you will notice that Al-Bukhari placed the narration under the heading: (Are the graves of the polytheists of the pre-Islamic era to be exhumed?)
Second
These dug-out graves were ancient, deserted graves, to the point that most of the bones in them had faded and disappeared. So when we read the novel, we find it saying:
The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, ordered that the palm trees be cut down, the graves of the polytheists be exhumed, and the ruins be leveled . (Sahih Muslim 524)
The previous story tells us that those graves were in ruins. The word (ruins) in the Arabic language has the following meanings:
1Empty, ruined places
2Places with holes
3Bones whose cavity and marrow have disappeared.
.
Al-Zamakhshari says in his book (The Foundation of Rhetoric) - 1/236 - the following:
It is a bone disease if there is no marrow in it. Kaab said:
“He saves the ruined one from it, as if he were hanged by a noose in his nose.”
Those graves were ruined places, full of holes, and most of the bones in them had disappeared from their interiors. Therefore, the Prophet ordered that the bones be transferred to another land and the ruins be leveled with the ground.
There are many books that talked about the fact that these cemeteries were old, deserted and extinct, for example:
- Al-Nawawi said in his commentary on Muslim (5/7) the following:
[It was dug up: It is permissible to dig up ruined graves (i.e. those whose traces have been erased with time)]
- Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi said - in his book (Informing the Prostrating Person of the Rulings on Mosques) - 1/381 - the following:
It was said: Because it was destroyed, and no trace of it remained, and there was a need to benefit from its location.
The same words were mentioned by Salih bin Nasser Al-Khuzaim in his book (The Function of the Mosque in Society) 1/57
Al-Fattani said - in his book (Majma’ Bahr Al-Anwar) - 5/631 - the following:
[ And he ordered the graves of the polytheists to be “exhumed”: This allows the exhumation of graves for study .]
Also, that area was a swamp, so the Muslims had to drain it before building the mosque:
Therefore, Ahmed Ahmed Ghouloush says - in his book (The Prophet’s Biography and the Call in the Medinan Era 1/104 - the following:
They said: “Rather, we will give it to you as a gift, O Messenger of God.” But the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, refused to accept it from them as a gift, and he continued with them until he bought it to be a mosque. When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, bought it, he ordered that the palm trees be cut down, the graves be dug up, the bones be hidden, the ruins be leveled, and the water in them be dried up . Thus, the place became ready for construction.
Third
The Prophet asked permission from the owners of these graves, Banu Najjar, and offered them a price to buy these ancient graves. However, Banu Najjar wanted to give these graves to the Prophet without a price, seeking Allah’s pleasure. The Prophet refused this gift and bought the place from them for a price. He paid the price of the place to Sahl and Suhayl, the sons of Rafi’ ibn Abi Amr, who were under the care of As’ad ibn Zararah.
Al-Bukhari (1868) narrated the following:
Abu Ma’mar narrated to us: Abd al-Warith narrated to us, on the authority of Abu al-Tayyah, on the authority of Anas: “The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, came to Medina and ordered the construction of the mosque. He said: ‘O Banu al-Najjar, give me a price.’ They said: ‘We will not ask anyone for its price except God.’ So he ordered the graves of the polytheists to be dug up, then the ruins to be leveled, and the palm trees to be cut down. So they lined up the palm trees facing the qiblah of the mosque.
Fourth:
The Prophet buried the remaining bones of the polytheists in another place and did not humiliate them…
- Therefore, Professor Dr. Musa Shaheen Lashin said - in his book ( Fath Al-Mun’im Sharh Sahih Muslim) - 3/110 - the following:
The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, ordered his companions to cut down the palm trees, so they cut them down. He ordered the graves of the polytheists to be dug up, their bones and soil to be collected and hidden in the ground . He ordered the traces of demolition and stones to be leveled and the ground to be leveled and then the mosque was built.
Sheikh Mansour Nasif says in his book ( The Comprehensive Crown of the Principles of the Hadiths of the Messenger) 1/374 the following:
[ That is, sell me your wall for the price, that is, your garden. In it were the graves of the polytheists and palm trees, so the bones of the dead were gathered and buried in a deep place. ]
Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al-Astwani said - in the book ( The Origin of Al-Zarari, an Explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari) - Manuscript 1/291 - the following:
The Great Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered that the graves of the polytheists, meaning those in the wall, be dug up, meaning that they were dug up and their bones were hidden . Al-Ajluni claimed that the bones were taken out and thrown in the wrong place!
I said: This is forbidden in its entirety. If what Al-Ajlouni meant was that the bones were removed and buried elsewhere, then it is accepted that it is permissible. If what Al-Ajlouni meant was that the bones were removed and thrown away unburied, then it is not permissible. It appears that this is what he meant, because his statement, “and were thrown away,” means they were thrown away unburied, and this is not permissible, because the parts of a human being, even if he is a disbeliever, are respected. Allah the Almighty said: {And We have certainly honored the children of Adam} [Al-Isra’: 70], and honoring him means burying him underground, as is clear.
.
- And the researcher Dr. Mustafa Deeb Al-Baghaa says - in Sahih Al-Bukhari - margin page 165 the following:
[ (She was dug up) and her bones were exposed and buried in the dirt]
Al-Qastalani says in his book (Irshad al-Sari) 3/329 the following:
[He ordered that the graves of the polytheists be exhumed and the bones be hidden]
Al-Zarqani says in his book (Al-Zarqani’s Commentary on Divine Gifts of the Muhammadan Grants) 2/ footnote page 177 - the following:
[ “And the graves of polytheists,” he added in one narration: from the pre-Islamic era. “So he ordered the graves to be exhumed,” he added in another narration: “And the bones to be hidden .”]
Fifth:
Even if there is a Muslim grave next to a mosque, and there is a dire need to expand the mosque, it is permissible to exhume the Muslim’s grave, remove his remains, and move them to another place so that we can expand the mosque.
Sixth:
For the Jews and Christians who pretend to be poor and claim that the Prophet ordered their graves to be exhumed!
I reply to them and say:
First: The previous narration, which spoke of grave-robbing, refers to the exhumation of the graves of Arab polytheists who died during the pre-Islamic era. It does not address the exhumation of the graves of non-Muslims (non-Muslims), whether Jews or pagan Christians. This is a different case.
This is what Ibn Battel explained, then he concluded his speech by saying:
[Likewise, the People of the Covenant today, including Jews and Christians, it is not permissible to exhume their graves to turn them into mosques or anything else.]
See the book: (Explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari by Ibn Battel 2/81) - by Ibn Battel.
Seventh:
Christians are crying and citing fatwas that permit digging up the graves of polytheists for money!
And I reply to them and say:
Christians misunderstood this fatwa. It was a fatwa about the possibility of opening the graves of ancient pagans to extract gold or the like. In their day, gold was money, as coins were made of gold and silver, and goods were exchanged for gold.
This fatwa speaks of opening the graves of ancient dead people to extract gold, just as the tombs of pagan pharaohs are now being explored and gold and other valuables are extracted from those graves. This is a common practice known in all countries of the world.
Therefore, Al-Tahawi says in his book (The Differences of Scholars) - abbreviated by Al-Jassas 3/454 - the following:
Muhammad bin Ishaq narrated on the authority of Ismail bin Umayya on the authority of Bujayr bin Abi Bujayr who said: I heard Abdullah bin Amr say: I heard the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, when we went out to Taif and passed by a grave, so the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: This is the grave of Abu Rigal, who is Abu Thaqif, and he was from Thamud, and he was in this place defending the Sacred Sanctuary. When he went out, the wrath befell him in this place, so he was buried in it. The proof of that is that he was buried with a branch of gold, if You dug it up and found it with him, so the people rushed to it and extracted the branch with it.
The hadith permits digging up the grave of a polytheist for money .
This fatwa ☝️ is based on the story of extracting a piece of gold from the grave of ( Abu Righal), who was from Thamud and died hundreds of years before the Prophet Muhammad; meaning that his body had decomposed and nothing remained in his grave except the piece of gold.
Knowing that there are other scholars who hated opening those ancient graves to extract valuables, such as Malik, Al-Awza’i and others.
As for the graves of the People of the Covenant (Jews and Christians) who live among Muslims, the valuables found in their graves belong to them and are not our right. For example, if we assume that a Muslim finds something valuable by chance in the grave of a Christian, then this thing is given to the family of this dead Christian because they are his heirs.
If we do not know the identity of the dead Christian or his family, then this found item is considered a found object in Islamic law. This item is identified for the purpose of inquiry and searching for its owners and possessors for a period of one year. If we do not find its owners in the end, then this found item is disposed of.
The jurist Ahmed Al-Sawy says - in the book (Al-Sawy’s Commentary on the Small Commentary = In the Language of the Traveler to the Nearest Paths) 1/655 - the following:
[If a Muslim or a non-Muslim buries a lost item, such as any of their property found on the ground, it must be announced for a year if its owner (proprietor) or heir is not known.]
Eighth:
The topic of always exhuming the graves of polytheists in order to build mosques is unlikely, and we do not resort to it except in cases of extreme necessity, as we said before.
Therefore, Ibn Battel says - in (Explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari) - 2/80 - the following :
The author said: As for exhuming the graves of polytheists to turn them into mosques, I did not find any text from any of the scholars regarding this.
.
Ninth:
As for those who cite the fact that some jurists have issued a fatwa stating that the body of an infidel has no sanctity and is not respected, I respond to them and say:
First: The infidels are those who humiliated their own corpses, as many of them denied the resurrection and believed in nothingness after death. Therefore, they would bury the corpses of the dead just to get rid of them and not with the intention of honoring them. Rather, the books of interpretation tell us that some of the infidels of Quraysh would bring rotten bones and crumble them in front of the Prophet, then they would ask him: How will these bones return to life on the Day of Resurrection? Therefore, the words of Allah Almighty were revealed:
And he has presented to Us an example and has forgotten his creation. He says, “Who will give life to the bones while they are disintegrated?” Say, “He will give them life who produced them the first time, and He is Knowing of all creation.” [Yasin 77-79]
Even today we find many infidels in the world burning corpses or throwing them to birds to eat.
Even the atheist believes in nihilism, and therefore the body of the dead no longer has any value to the atheist at all; to the point that I remember that one of the atheists stole the burial money allocated for the burial of his atheist friend!!
An infidel is someone who does not respect himself at all…
In Islam, there are some jurists who have responded to the incorrect fatwas regarding the corpse of a polytheist, and they have confirmed that the body of a human being is generally respected; he is, after all, a human being, regardless of his beliefs.
Therefore, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al-Astwani says - in the book (The Origin of Al-Zarari, a Commentary on Sahih Al-Bukhari) - Manuscript 1/291 - the following:
[ Because the parts of a human being - even if he is a disbeliever - are respected. God Almighty said: “And We have certainly honored the children of Adam” [Al-Isra’: 70], and honoring him means burying him underground, as is well known.]
Tenth:
The Prophet ordered the palm trees to be cut down in order to use them in building the mosque, and so the story says:
[ And the palm trees were cut down, so they lined up the palm trees facing the qiblah of the mosque, and made its pillars of stones.]
Point eleven:
The polytheists who were buried in that ancient area did not have the right to be buried in that area, and therefore Al-Fitni said - in his book (Majma’ Bahr Al-Anwar) - 5/631 - the following:
[ And he ordered the graves of the polytheists to be “exhumed”: This allows the exhumation of graves for study , and perhaps those graves were not the property of those buried in them, but were buried in them by force, and so their owners sold them.]
Judge Iyad said - in his book (Ikmal al-Mu’allim bi-Fawa’id Muslim) - 2/441 - the following:
[Perhaps the owners of the wall did not give them ownership of that spot forever]
Point Twelve
The prophets of the Holy Bible were those who abused the bodies of the dead, for example:
We find in the Holy Book that the Prophet David cut off the heads of the Philistines and gave those bodies to birds and predatory animals to eat their corpses. The Book of Samuel 17 says:
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will kill you and cut off your head. I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army this day to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth , and all the earth will know that there is a God for Israel.
- And the Prophet Moses took the bones of Joseph out of Egypt, as stated in Exodus 13:19 :
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear an oath, saying, “Surely God will visit you, and you shall bring up my bones from here with you.”
Today, we see Christians taking out the bones of saints and others and displaying them to visitors!
Even on the website of the Patriarchate of Antioch, you will find them saying that they exhumed the graves of the dead and displayed them to Christian visitors!
In the year 429 AD, Saint Cyril established a Christian shrine and placed the bodies of Saints Abakir and John in it…!!!
