Building shrines over graves

-What kind of evidence do you want me to produce? Ask somebody whom you trust as to where the graves of Hazrat Ismail and his mother are.

-I did not know the exact verse and was too lazy and short on time to search and post it myself. I am not a hafiz e Quran and was completely assuming when i said "Allah SWT ordered them to erect a mosque". But if you read my last post, i have corrected and remodified my wordings once you had posted the verse. So you saying that you have asked me 3 times and so on holds very little ground as i never challenged you on the wordings of the verse regarding the command of Allah SWT. However read the point i raised in the last verse as to Allah SWT did not object to the masjid that was built over the graves of the Ashaab e Kahaf and to this day people go there to pray to Allah SWT (not to Ashaab e Kahaf!). Even in tafasir which Wahabis prescribe to such as Ibn Kathir it is said that it is unestablished whether it was the good party who built the masjid over their graves or a bad one.

My friend, please do not be so quick to compare Muslims with Christians and Jews in this regard. Allah is the creator and we are his creations. What Christians or Hiundus have done is ascribed and elevated the creations of Allah SWT to the level of the creator be it Isa (as) or the idols that they pray to. In the process they have also de-elevated Allah SWT by bringing him down to the level of his creations (not in a literal sense as its impossible for anyone to harm Allah in anyway but this means they have commited shirk or associated partners with Allah SWT). However what Islam teaches us is that the creator is nothing like the creations. He is simply above ALL and the ONLY deservant of the ibadat. This is a basic Islamic concept understood by all the Muslims. Every Muslim knows their shahada and has most likely has also read Sura Ikhlaas to know these. We as Muslims may have a lot of shortcomings in other areas but there is aboloutely no two opinions about this matter. Also, have you ever seen any Muslim praying towards a grave while considering it as a Qibla (direction faced during prayers)? Whenever you see people praying at the tombs, know that they are engrossed in the worship of Allah. They have not changed their deity. They worship Allah at this place because the place is associated with one of the beloved ones of Allah. It is a sign and symbol that reminds us of this great personality who is the dweller of this place.

Allah SWT made Safa and Marwa 'Symbols of Allah' because of their association with a Nabi who was a baby at that time and wife of a Nabi, i.e. Hajar wife of Ibrahim (as)

**Baqarah:158 Behold! Safa and Marwa are among the Symbols of Allah....

Hajj:32 "And whosoever honors the Symbols of Allah, then it is truly from the piety of the heart." **

I am basically short on time now so i will continue later but let me ask you something:

What would visiting the tomb/shrine/masjid of the Ashaab e Kahaf remind you of?
What would visiting the grave/tomb/masjid/hujra of the Prophet remind you of?
What would visiting the graves of the Shohda e Badar o Ohad remind you of?
What would visiting the shrine of Imam Hussain remind you of?

If these places arent the Symbols of Allah then tell me what are?

IF IT ISNT THE POWER OF TAWHEED AND POWER OF THE MESSAGE OF ALLAH THAT YOU ARE OVERWHELMED BY THEN I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS THE ATTRACTION FOR THE PEOPLE TO GO THROUGH THE TROUBLES THAT THEY DO TO VISIT THESE PLACES!

If i stand and pray a 2 rakat nafal there to Allah SWT then do you see any wrong with that? Is there a salat more beautiful than one that is offered from the bottom of the heart and soul? If i look at these Symbols of Allah and prostrate to Allah SWT in sheer submisiveness then how is it shirk?