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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
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