Tahdhir al-Sajid min Ittikhadh al-Qubur Masajid

Tahdhir al-Sajid min Ittikhadh al-Qubur Masajid (Warning the Worshipper Against Taking Graves as Mosques) is a treatise by the hadith scholar Nasir al-Din al-Albani (d. 1420 AH / 1999 CE) examining the Islamic legal rulings and prophetic traditions concerning building places of worship over graves and performing prayer around them Tahdhir al-Sajid min Itti…+1.

Background and Composition

The work developed from an earlier short treatise titled al-Salat fi al-masajid al-mabniyya 'ala al-qubur (Prayer in Mosques Built over Graves) Thabat Muallafat al-Alban…. When al-Albani decided to publish it in an expanded form, he revised and supplemented the text, retitling it Tahdhir al-Sajid min Ittikhadh al-Qubur Masajid and integrating the original treatise as its sixth chapter Thabat Muallafat al-Alban…. Al-Albani authored the work to assemble the widely transmitted (mutawatir) hadiths on the topic and demonstrate the positions of the four Sunni legal schools against turning graves into mosques Tahdhir al-Sajid min Itti…+1.

Structure and Content

The book is structured into seven primary chapters alongside several sub-chapters Tahdhir al-Sajid min Itti…:

• Chapter One: Gathers the hadith narrations prohibiting the practice of taking graves as places of worship Tahdhir al-Sajid min Itti….
• Chapter Two: Explains the legal definition of "taking graves as mosques," categorizing it into three distinct meanings: prostrating directly upon graves, facing towards them during prayer or supplication, and erecting mosques over them or intending to pray inside them al-Tawdih al-Rashid fi Sh…+1.
• Chapter Three: Argues that establishing mosques over graves constitutes a major sin (kabirah), citing consensus across the four legal schools and quotations from jurists such as Ibn Hajar al-Haytami Jami Turath al-Allama al-…+1.
• Chapter Four: Responds to counterarguments and contested proofs, including the interpretation of verse 21 of Surat al-Kahf, the presence of the Prophet's grave inside his mosque, prayer at Masjid al-Khayf, narrations regarding the grave of Ishmael in the Hijr of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, and Abu Jandal's construction of a mosque over the grave of Abu Basir Tahdhir al-Sajid min Itti…+1.
• Chapter Five: Outlines the legal and theological rationale (hikmah) behind the prohibition of building mosques over graves, emphasizing the prevention of excessive veneration and idolatry Tahdhir al-Sajid min Itti…+1.
• Chapter Six: Details the legal status of performing prayer in mosques built upon graves, examining opinions on whether such prayers are strictly invalid or prohibitively disliked (makruh tahriman) Tahdhir al-Sajid min Itti…+1.
• Chapter Seven: Discusses how the prohibition extends to all mosques with an examination of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina Tahdhir al-Sajid min Itti…+1. Al-Albani traces the historical inclusion of the Prophet's tomb into the mosque structure during the expansion ordered by the Umayyad caliph al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik in 88 AH, concluding that prayer in the Prophet's Mosque remains valid and is not disliked due to the protective walls and specific historical conditions surrounding the chamber Jami Turath al-Allama al-…+1.

Publication History and Reception

The author completed the preface to the second edition in Damascus on 23 Jumada al-Ula 1392 AH Tahdhir al-Sajid min Itti…. The book was printed in multiple editions by al-Maktab al-Islami in Beirut, including a third edition in 1398 AH and a fourth edition in 1403 AH / 1983 CE comprising 165 pages, and was later published by Maktabat al-Ma'arif in Riyadh in 1422 AH Jami Turath al-Allama al-…+1.

The work has been utilized and referenced in contemporary Salafi scholarship on theology and ritual purity as a comprehensive compilation of traditions on grave veneration Fath al-Allam fi Dirasat …+1. It was also abridged by subsequent authors, including Khaldun Naghawi in an appendix to his commentary on Kitab al-Tawhid al-Tawdih al-Rashid fi Sh….