It is otherwise with respect to such places of prayer as are within their dwellings, which they are not prohibited from constructing, because these are an appurtenance to the habitation. What is here said is the rule with respect to cities, but not with respect to villages or hamlets, because, as the tokens of Islām (such as public prayer, festivals, and so forth) appear in cities, Ẕimmīs should not be permitted to celebrate the tokens of infidelity there in the face of them; but as the tokens of Islām do not appear in villages or hamlets, there is no occasion to prevent the construction of synagogues or churches there.
Some allege that Ẕimmīs are to be prohibited from constructing churches or synagogues, not only in cities but also in villages and hamlets, because in the villages various tokens of Islām appear, and what is recorded from Abū Ḥanīfah (that the prohibition against building churches and synagogues is confined to cities, and does not extend to villages and hamlets) relates solely to the villages of al-Kūfah, because the greater part of the inhabitants of villages are Ẕimmīs, there being few Muslims among them, wherefore the tokens of Islām did not there appear; moreover, in the territory of Arabia Ẕimmīs are prohibited from constructing churches or synagogues, either in cities or villages, because the Prophet has said: “Two religions cannot be possessed together in the peninsula of Arabia.” (See Fatāwā-i-ʿAlamgīrī, Durru ʾl-Muk͟htār, Hidāyah, in loco.) [[ZIMMI].]
TOMBS. The erection of tombs and monuments over the graves of Muslims is forbidden by the strict laws of Islām. For the teaching of the Traditions on the subject is unmistakable, as will be seen by the following Aḥādīs̤ (Mishkāt, book v. ch. vi. pt. 1):—
Jābir says: “The Prophet prohibited building with mortar on graves.”
Abū ʾl-Haiyāj al-Asadī relates that the K͟halīfah ʿAlī said to him: “Shall I not give you the orders which the Prophet gave me, namely, to destroy all pictures and images, and not to leave a single lofty tomb without lowering it within a span from the ground.”
Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ said, when he was ill: “Make me a grave towards Makkah, and put unburnt bricks upon it, as was done upon the Prophet’s.”
The Wahhābīs consequently forbid the erection of monuments, and when they took possession of al-Madīnah, they intended to destroy the handsome building which covers the grave of the Prophet, but were prevented by accident. (See Burton’s Pilgrimage, vol. i. p. 354.) [[WAHHABI].]
But notwithstanding the general consensus of orthodox opinion, that the erection of such buildings is unlawful, domed tombs of substantial structure, similar to the illustration given on this page, are common to all Muḥammadan countries, and masonry tombs are always erected over the graves of persons of respectability.
Some have a head-stone, in which there are recesses for small oil lamps, which are lighted every Thursday evening. Persons of distinction are generally honoured with tombs constructed with domes. The specimens given in the illustrations are common to all parts of the Muslim world.
