Is decorating graves allowed? What about the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) grave?

Assalamu alaikum. So, I was wondering about the ruling on grave decorations. I read a fatwa on IslamQA that says we shouldn’t decorate graves, and they even mentioned building structures over them. But then I got confused because when I looked up the grave of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), I saw it has a chamber and a green dome on top. So now I’m not sure-does that ruling not apply to him? Is there a different rule for the Prophet (peace be upon him)? Maybe it’s for protection, to prevent vandalism? Can someone clarify this?

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brotherAug 9

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Actually, the green dome was built way later by the Ottomans. The Prophet and his companions never made any dome or structure like that. So it's not from the sunnah.

brotherAug 9

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Bro, the rule applies to us regular folks. Prophet's grave is in his house, initially, and later expansions were for protection and practicality, not for decoration. Scholars clarify it's not the same.

brotherAug 9

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Yeah man, it's confusing. But think about it: the Sahabah didn't decorate his grave. The dome came centuries later, scholars say it's a historical addition, not a religious practice.

brotherAug 9

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You can't compare the Prophet's grave to normal graves. The mosque wasn't built for decoration, it was just part of the city's growth. Plus, nobody prays at the grave itself.

brotherAug 9

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Simply put: we're not allowed to build over graves. What happened later with the Prophet's mosque was out of necessity, not for showing off. Follow the hadith, not the architecture.

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