Grave of the Prophet, Ka’ba & Arsh

The Grave of the Prophet is more Blessed than the Ka'ba & Arsh

According to the consensus (ijma’) of all the scholars, the piece of land on which rests the blessed body of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) is more virtuous than anything and everything which includes the Ka’ba and the thrown (arsh) of Allah Most High.

The great Hadith scholar and Hanafi jurist (faqih), Mulla Ali al-Qari (Allah have mercy on him) states in his al-Maslak al-Mutaqassit fi al-Mansak al-Mutawassit, a commentary on Imam al-Sindhi’s Lubab al-Manasic (aka: Manasic Mulla Ali al-Qari):

“All the scholars agree on the fact that the most virtuous of cities are the cities of Makkah al-Mukarramah and Madina al-Munawwarah, Allah increase them in honour and respect. Then the scholars differed as to which one of the two is more virtuous…Some stated that Makkah is more virtuous than Madinah and this is the opinion of the three Imams (m: Abu Hanifa, Shafi’i and Malik), and has also been narrated from some Companions (Allah be pleased with them). Others stated that Madinah is more virtuous than Makkah and this is the opinion of some Maliki scholars and those who followed them from the Shafi’i school. It was said that this was also narrated from some of the Companions (Allah be pleased with them). It is possible that this was during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) or it was for those who migrated to Madinah from Makkah (muhajirun). Another (third) opinion states that they are both equal but this opinion is unknown, unrelated and incomprehensible. It seems that those who held this view saw the contradiction between the actions of the Ulama and the contradiction in the proofs, thus opted to remain silent (m: and not hold one more virtuous over the other).

However, the above difference of opinion is with regards to other than the blessed grave of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) and the Ka’ba, for Ka’ba is more virtuous than Madinah with the exception of the Prophet’s (Allah bless him & give him peace) grave according to all the scholars. Similarly, the blessed grave of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is more virtuous than Masjid al-Haram without any difference of opinion among the scholars. So much so that the majority of the scholars (jumhur) have stated that, the piece of land on which rests the blessed body of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is the most virtuous of lands on the face of this earth by the consensus (ijma’) of all the scholars…even more virtuous than Ka’ba…and the thrown (arsh), as some of them have explicitly mentioned.

Thus, Qadhi Iyadh and others (Allah have mercy on them all) have related the consensus of the Ummah on the fact that the land on which lies the blessed Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is more virtuous than even Ka’ba, and that the difference of opinion among the scholars is besides the blessed grave.” (Manasic Mulla Ali al-Qari, p. 531-532)

Qadhi Iyadh al-Maliki (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“There is no difference of opinion (la khilaf) in that the grave of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is the most virtuous land on earth.” (al-Shifa’ bi ta’rif huquq al-Mustafa, p. 595)

The great Hanafi jurist (faqih), Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“And Makkah is more virtuous than Madinah according to the preferred opinion with the exception of the land on which rests the blessed body of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace), for that is virtuous unrestrictedly (mutlaqan), even more than Ka’ba, Arsh and the Kursi.”

Allama Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) also agrees with the above statement of Imam al-Haskafi in his super-commentary (hashiya), thus relates from the Manasic of Mulla Ali al-Qari, which has been mentioned earlier.

Therefore, there is complete consensus of the Ulama on the fact that the area of the land on which rests the body of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) i.e. his grave is more blessed and more virtuous than everything which includes the Ka’ba and the thrown of Allah Almighty.

This is in accordance with the belief of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah that only Allah Almighty Himself has a greater rank than the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace). The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is the best and most beloved of all creation, thus even the land where his body rests was given this status that it became the most virtuous of lands.

Some people may think how can the grave of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) be more virtuous than even the thrown (arsh) of Allah Most High?

The answer to this is that Allah Most High is not sitting (in every sense of the word) on his thrown. He is pure from time and space, thus the Aqidah of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah is that Allah Almighty is not restricted to any time or space, though His knowledge encompasses everything. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is resting in his blessed grave, although his soul may travel to other places.

And Allah knows best.