Is it permissible to pray in a mosque that contains a grave, citing as evidence Aisha's prayer in her house, which contained the grave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?

The prohibition of prayer at gravesides is divided into two situations:

First, intending to pray at a grave believing in its virtue. This is forbidden, and its perpetrator is cursed, based on the hadith of Aisha, in which Umm Salamah mentioned to the Prophet a church in Habasha (Ethiopia) and the images within it. He said: "Those are a people who, if a righteous servant among them dies, build a mosque over his grave and make those images in it. Those are the worst of creation in the sight of Allah." Aisha understood that the Prophet's burial in her house was to block the means of taking his grave as a mosque. Her prayer in her house was not because of his grave, but she prayed there as was her custom.

Second, the prohibition of praying towards a grave or near it without believing in its virtue. This is less severe and has been prohibited by hadiths, such as the hadith of Abu Marthad Al-Ghanawi: "Do not pray towards graves." This might be what is thought regarding Aisha's prayer, but the three graves were veiled or separated by a wall, and Aisha had a private place for prayer in her room.

Regarding the ruling on praying in mosques that contain graves, the Sunnah has extensively prohibited taking graves as mosques. Mosques containing graves are divided into two types:

First, mosques established to glorify the occupant of the grave. These are "masajid ad-dirar" (mosques of harm) that must be demolished, and prayer in them is not valid.

Second, mosques established for performing prayers, and then someone was buried in them. These are respected mosques whose sanctity is not nullified by the burial within them. There is no harm in praying in them, and the presence of a grave does not prevent prayer in them. The proof for this is that a mosque founded on piety is not harmed by what occurs within it, just as the Prophet prayed in the Sacred Mosque while idols were in it. The inclusion of Aisha's chamber, which contains the Prophet's grave, into the Prophet's Mosque has no effect on the mosque's virtue. Prayer in it remains equivalent to a thousand prayers. The argument of the grave-worshippers is invalid because the location of the grave is not part of the mosque.