The claim that the Prophet's grave is better than the Throne
18-4-2015 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalaamu alaikum, dear shaikh in (Manasik Mulla Ali al-Qari, p. 531-532) it is written that "the place on which lies the body of blessed Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is more virtuous than even Ka’ba, and Arsh of ALLAH.".Moreover, they say that " The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is the best and most beloved of all creation, thus even the place where his body rests was given this status that it became the most virtuous of places even greater than the Arsh."Kindly make me understand that how is it possible?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
This statement of Mulla Ali Qaari was made by other earlier scholars and it is a matter of difference of opinion.
Some scholars said the grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is more virtuous than the Ka’bah, and some of them said his grave is even more virtuous than the Throne. As-Saalihi mentioned some of their statements in his book Subul Al-Huda war-Rashaad fi Seerat Khayril ‘Ibaad, saying:
“Abul-Waleed Al-Baaji, Qaadhi 'Iyaadh and others reported a consensus that the grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is more virtuous than the Ka‘bah, and this was also stated by Abul-Yaman ibn ‘Asaakir in his Tuhfah; and this was also asserted by Abu Muhammad ‘Abdullaah ibn Abi ‘Umar Al-Biskari … In fact, Qaadhi Taaj Ad-Deen As-Subki quoted Ibn ‘Aqeel from the Hanbali School as saying that his grave is even more virtuous than the Throne, and Abu ‘Abdullaah Muhammad ibn Razeen Al-Baheeri from the Shaafi‘i School said he was certain about it.” [End of quote]
As-Subki said in his Fataawa: “His noble grave is not effectively part of the (Nabawi) mosque; rather, it is more distinguished than the mosque, more distinguished than the Sacred Mosque in Makkah and more distinguished than all other places, as Qaadhi Iyaadh reported a consensus on this – that the place which encompasses the body of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (i.e. his grave), there is no difference of opinion that it is better, and that it is an exception to the pronouncement of the Shaafi‘is, Hanafis, Hanbalis and others, that Makkah is better than Madeenah.
"This consensus reported from Abul-Waleed Al-Baaji and Qaadhi Iyaadh – if confirmed – would be enough to settle the dispute. However, Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah 
refuted it in some of his Fataawa. In fact, As-Subki reported from Qaadhi As-Surooji what indicates a dispute regarding the consensus of scholars being confirmed, as he said after the previous statement: “I noticed that a group of scholars are confused about this consensus, and Qaadhi Shams Ad-Deen As-Surooji from the Hanafi School said to me: "I read fifty books in our School but I did not find any book that dealt with this issue."” [End of quote]
As regards the other opinion on the issue, the most prominent person to have supported it is Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah . He was asked, Is the land (place) where the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was buried better than the Sacred Mosque in Makkah? He replied:
“As regards the soil in which the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was buried, I do not know anyone who said that it is better than the Sacred Mosque, the Prophet's Mosque or Al-Aqsa Mosque except Qaadhi Iyaadh, who stated this as a consensus, and it is a view that no one preceded him in as far as we know. He has no evidence for this. Rather, the body of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is better than the mosques. As for the soil where he was created or the grave where he was buried, even if the Prophet is better, it does not necessarily mean that the place where he was created is better. No one said that the body of his father ‘Abdullaah is better than the bodies of Prophets, as Allaah brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living. Nooh (Noah) is an honorable Prophet but his son who was drowned was a disbeliever, and Ibraaheem (Abraham) was the ally of Allaah while his father Aazar was a disbeliever. The texts that indicate that the mosques are better are general and the graves are not excluded from it.” [End of quote]
Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah also said: “It was confirmed that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "The most beloved places to Allaah are the mosques." There are no places that are better than the mosques and the places housing the Prophets, whether alive or dead, are not better than the mosques. This is what was confirmed by the words of the Prophet 
and by the agreement of his community. What some scholars mentioned about the graves of the Prophets and the righteous being better than the mosques and about supplicating near them being better than supplicating at the mosques, even the Sacred Mosque and the Prophet's mosque in Madeenah, this statement is inexcusably known to be false in the religion of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and it is known that the entire Muslim community are inexcusably in agreement about it being false, just as they are in agreement about I‘tikaaf in the mosques being better than at graves. What is meant by I‘tikaaf is worship, prayer, reciting the Quran, remembrance of Allaah and supplication. What some scholars mentioned about a certain grave being better than all mosques, this is a statement that was introduced into Islam and is not known from any scholar of the Salaf (righteous predecessors), but it was mentioned by some later scholars and other scholars quoted it believing that there was a consensus because the bodies of Prophets are better than mosques. Their statement applies generally to all believers: their bodies are better than all soil. But the fact that their bodies are better does not necessarily mean that their housing whether alive or dead is better; rather, it was inexcusably known that their mosques are better than their homes … The objective here is to take note of such reports of consensus that some people mention, and they use them as a basis for what opposes the religion of the Muslims: the Book, the Sunnah and the consensus.” [End of quote]
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said in Al-Qawl Al-Mufeed: “Some people who exaggerate say the Ka‘bah is better than the mere grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, but while the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallm, (i.e. his body) is in it, (they say) by Allaah, not the Ka‘bah, nor the Throne, nor the angels carrying the Throne, and not even Paradise is better than his grave. They mean to say the grave of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is better than the Ka‘bah, the Throne, the angels carrying the Throne, and Paradise. This is an exaggeration which the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would not accept for us and for himself. It is true that the body of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is better, but saying that his grave (containing his body) is better than the Ka‘bah, the Throne and Paradise because the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is in it, this is wrong. We seek refuge in Allaah from this.” [End of quote]
Since there is a difference of opinion about this issue, an important matter should be mentioned here: this issue is among the issues that do not necessitate any action, so a person does not need to occupy himself with it and waste his effort in searching for the most valid opinion among the different opinions.
Allaah Knows best.