The History of the Grave of the Prophet ﷺ

The Grave in the Ayyubid era

During the era of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, there was not much to be done. The Mosque of the Prophet ﷺ underwent several significant repairs and restorations, and that presumably included the grave chamber as well. Salah al-Din and many other Ayyubid leaders would visit the grave of the Prophet ﷺ as a form of respect.

There is an incident involving the grave of the Prophet ﷺ which was narrated by the Muslim explorer, Ibn Jubayr, in his Rihlah and travel journals. This incident occured during the era of the Ayyubids. A group of pirates from Lebanon and Syria had intended to steal the body of the Prophet ﷺ and sell it for profit. These pirates were very deadly, and they attacked, hijacked and burned many ships they passed by. One of these was a ship carrying pilgrims from the Hajj to Egypt. The pirates were very open about their plan, they even bragged about it to everyone. But no one dared to try and stop them.

They set out on a journey to Madinah, after a month they were already on a few days to Madinah. But when they were approximately like a week away, the Ayyubid general, Hussam ad-Din Lu'lu, commanded a force of Muslim military ships to confront the pirates. The Ayyubid army was accompanied by the nearby Almoravid army, who had heard of the incident and hence decided to confront the pirates as well. The Muslims chased the pirates through the sea, and then they managed to catch up with them. The chief of the pirates was killed in the ensuing fight, and the rest of the pirates were chained up and taken to various countries to be executed. No pardon or legal payments could save them.

Allah had protected the grave of His Messenger ﷺ from the hands of thugs and criminal gangs.