It is reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
“Beware of these altars,” meaning mihrabs.
This hadith was transferred to al-Tabarani in al-Mu’jam al-Kabir and al-Baykhaky (2/439) from the words of ‘Abdullah ibn’ Amr, may Allah be pleased with both of them.
Sheikh al-Albani called the hadith authentic. See “Sahih al-Jami ‘al-sagir” (120), “al-Silsil ad-da’if” (448).
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According to the “mihrabs” in the hadith, we are talking about places of honor (elevated positions) in the middle of the meeting, etc., as Hafiz al-Khaysami, Imam Ibn al-Asir, Imam al-Munawi, Sheikh al-Albani, etc. spoke about this. so that this does not lead to arrogance, pride, etc. And although some imams considered that under the “mihrab” we are talking about mihrabs which are installed in mosques, this is an erroneous opinion, since during the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, there were no mihrabs.
Khadeeja