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Claiming to have soil from Prophet's grave

Question

Assalaamu alaykum. I would like some information. When i was little, I got something interesting. It was some kind of hard soil on which the name "Allah" was inscribed. My grandmother said that she had been given that soil from her grandmother (who lived nearly 100 years ago from now) and that her grandmother had brought it from Hajj. Her grandmother even said that the soil was from the Prophet's grave, and she used it call it "Khaksha soil" (I do not know the origin and meaning of this word). My question is: is this type of soil real, or is it just some made-up story? (Both my grandma and her grandma were simple and religious women, and they were from West Bengal, India.) Please inform me in detail.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Saying that this soil is from the grave of the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is a lie; it is very unlikely and very difficult to prove, as his noble grave is surrounded by three high walls so that the hands of abusers would not reach it.

Al-Qurtubi said in his book Al-Mufahhim:

It is for this reason that the Muslims went to great lengths in preventing what is forbidden regarding the grave of the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) so they raised its walls high and blocked the entrances to it, and they surrounded the Prophet’s grave with it. Then they feared that his grave would be taken as a direction to pray to, as it was in the direction towards which the worshipers pray, and it could be as if they were worshipping the grave. Therefore, they built two walls from the northern corners of the grave and deviated them until they met at an angle on the northern side so that no one would be facing his grave when praying (to the Qiblah which is on the southern side of the grave).

It should be noted that if this piece of soil is still with you, you should wipe out the Name of Allah from it so that it would not be exposed to disrespect.

Allah knows best.

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