Which Prophets are buried near Masjid al-Aqsa?

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most Merciful Most Kind

Short Answer

We cannot confirm which Prophets are buried near Masjid al-Aqsa. This is because we only know the burial place of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ for certain. All other Prophetic graves are uncertain.

Prophet Musa (Moses, peace be upon him)

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، قَالَ: ” أُرْسِلَ مَلَكُ المَوْتِ إِلَى مُوسَى عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلاَمُ، فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُ صَكَّهُ، فَرَجَعَ إِلَى رَبِّهِ، فَقَالَ: أَرْسَلْتَنِي إِلَى عَبْدٍ لاَ يُرِيدُ المَوْتَ، قَالَ: ارْجِعْ إِلَيْهِ فَقُلْ لَهُ يَضَعُ يَدَهُ عَلَى مَتْنِ ثَوْرٍ، فَلَهُ بِمَا غَطَّتْ يَدُهُ بِكُلِّ شَعَرَةٍ سَنَةٌ، قَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ، ثُمَّ مَاذَا؟ قَالَ: ثُمَّ المَوْتُ، قَالَ: فَالْآنَ، قَالَ: فَسَأَلَ اللَّهَ أَنْ يُدْنِيَهُ مِنَ الأَرْضِ المُقَدَّسَةِ رَمْيَةً بِحَجَرٍ، قَالَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ: فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: لَوْ كُنْتُ ثَمَّ لَأَرَيْتُكُمْ قَبْرَهُ، إِلَى جَانِبِ الطَّرِيقِ تَحْتَ الكَثِيبِ الأَحْمَرِ

(Sayidina) Abu Huraira said: The angel of death was sent to Musa (Moses, peace be upon him). When he arrived (Sayidina) Musa slapped him. So he returned to his Lord and said: You sent me to a slave who does not want death. He (Allah Most High) said: Go back and tell him to place his hand over the back of an ox. For every hair that his hand covers he will be granted one year of life. Musa (peace be upon him) said, “O Lord! What will happen after that?” He replied, “Then death.” (Sayidina) Musa said, “Let it be now.” He then asked Allah (Most High) to draw him close to the Sacred Land, the distance of a stone’s throw. Abu Huraira added, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘If I were there, I would show you his grave. Below the red sand dune on the side of the road.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, 3407).

The Hadith narration above makes it clear that the blessed Prophet Musa (Moses, peace be upon him) is buried near Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). However, it is not possible to identify the precise position of the grave. This is the case with other Prophets too. We know Prophets lived in that blessed area and that Prophets are buried near Masjid al-Aqsa. But we cannot specify the spot.

Prophetic graves hidden to avoid Fitnah

قَالَ بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ وَإِنَّمَا سَأَلَ الْإِدْنَاءَ وَلَمْ يَسْأَلْ نَفْسَ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ لِأَنَّهُ خَافَ أَنْ يَكُونَ قَبْرُهُ مَشْهُورًا عِنْدَهُمْ فَيَفْتَتِنَ بِهِ النَّاسُ. (المنهاج شرح صحيح مسلم بن الحجاج)

Some scholars said that he (Musa peace be upon him) asked for closeness and not Bayt al-Maqdis itself because he feared that his grave would become known among them and would become a Fitnah for them. (Imam Abu Zakariyah al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim).

فَإِن قلت: لِمَ لم يسْأَل نفس الْبَيْت وَسَأَلَ الدنو مِنْهُ؟ قلت: خَافَ أَن يكون قَبره مَشْهُورا فيفتنن بِهِ النَّاس، كَمَا أخبر بِهِ الشَّارِع أَن الْيَهُود وَالنَّصَارَى اتَّخذُوا قُبُور أَنْبِيَائهمْ مَسَاجِد. (عمدة القاري شرح صحيح البخاري)

If you ask, why did he not ask for Bayt al-Maqdis itself, rather he asked for closeness to it? I would reply, he feared that his grave would become known, and people would fall into Fitnah due to it. As the lawmaker warned that the Jews and Christians took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship. (Imam Badr al-Deen al-Ayni, Umdatu al-Qari).

In the Nusoos (texts) above, the Imams speculate as to why Sayidina Musa asked to be buried outside of Bayt al-Maqdis and not within it. One of the possibilities is that the grave would remain obscure. This has clearly been achieved. Since we know the blessed Prophet is buried near Masjid al-Aqsa, but we do not know precisely were.

Our blessed Prophet Muhammad ﷺ regularly raised this concern. He ﷺ repeatedly warned against overly venerating graves to the degree of worship. Our blessed mother Sayidah Ayeshah explained that the reason the grave of the Prophet ﷺ is not visible is for this concern. Namely, people taking it as a place of worship.

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا، قَالَتْ: قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي مَرَضِهِ الَّذِي لَمْ يَقُمْ مِنْهُ: لَعَنَ اللَّهُ اليَهُودَ اتَّخَذُوا قُبُورَ أَنْبِيَائِهِمْ مَسَاجِدَ. قَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ: لَوْلاَ ذَلِكَ لَأُبْرِزَ قَبْرُهُ خَشِيَ أَنْ يُتَّخَذَ مَسْجِدًا

(Sayidah) Aishah (May Allah Most High be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said during his fatal illness: Allah cursed the Jews as they took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship. (Sayidah) Aishah said: Had it not been for that, his ﷺ grave would have been made visible. But he ﷺ feared it would be taken as a place of worship. (Sahih al-Bukhari, 4441).

Is Prophet Ibraheem buried there?

We suspect that some Prophets are buried near Masjid al-Aqsa. Amongst them is the blessed Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him). But do we know the exact location of his grave? The resounding answer to this question should be negative. This is because we do not know the precise location of any prophetic grave except that of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

وَلَيْسَ فِي قُبُورِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ مَا هُوَ مُحَقَّقٌ سِوَى قَبْرِ نَبِيِّنَا – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – وَأَمَّا قَبْرُ مُوسَى فَمَظْنُونٌ بِالْعَلَامَةِ الَّتِي فِي الْحَدِيثِ وَقَبْرُ إبْرَاهِيمَ الْخَلِيلِ وَمَنْ مَعَهُ – عَلَيْهِمْ السَّلَامُ – أَيْضًا مَظْنُونٌ بِمَنَامَاتٍ وَنَحْوِهَا. (طرح التثريب في شرح التقريب)

There is nothing confirmed regarding the graves of the Prophets except the grave of our Prophet ﷺ. As for the grave of Musa (Moses, peace be upon him), it is speculatively marked by the sign mentioned in the Hadith. The grave of Ibrahim al-Khalil and those with him (peace be upon them) is also speculative based on dreams and the like. (Imam Zayn al-Deen al-Iraqi, Sharh al-Taqreeb).

قال الحافظ العراقي: وليس في قبور الأنبياء ما هو محقق إلا قبر نبينا صلى الله عليه وسلم وأما قبر موسى وإبراهيم فمظنون. (فيض القدير شرح الجامع الصغير)

Al-Hafiz al-Iraqi said: Nothing among the graves of the prophets is confirmed except the grave of our Prophet ﷺ. As for the graves of Musa and Ibrahim (peace be upon them), they are speculative. (Imam abd al-Rauf al-Munawi, Fayd al-Qadeer).

In the Nass above, Imam al-Iraqi alluded to something incredbly important and often misunderstood. The location of many histroic graves in the Muslim lands is based upon dreams. However, dreams do not establish religious facts. Therefore, one must recognise that they are extremely speculative.

Conclusion

We can say with confidence that the Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) is buried near Masjid al-Aqsa. This is because we have an authentic Hadith to support this position. We also believe that other Prophets are buried near Masjid al-Aqsa, this is based on less authentic narrations. They are narrations from books of history. In any case, we cannot specify the exact location of any grave other than that of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

And Allah Most High Knows Best.

–Answered by Shaykh Noorud-deen Rashid (11.03.24)