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What is the ruling on praying in a mosque that contains the shrine of a saint whose miracles are believed in, and is it permissible to pray behind an imam who believes in these beliefs?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is forbidden to build mosques over graves, to bury the dead in a mosque, and to pray in a mosque that contains a grave. As for building a mosque near a grave, such that the grave is outside of it, this is not forbidden, and prayer in it is valid. Visiting a grave for admonition and reflection is permissible, but visiting it to supplicate to other than Allah is polytheism. The condition of the mosque's imam should be considered: if he believes that the saint fulfills needs, then one should not pray behind him. Otherwise, prayer behind him is valid.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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