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sur yes it seems I wrongly attributed what was said by the scholars to Allah. May Allah forgive me. Nonetheless, the more than 10 tafasir i quoted agreed that those were the believers. And i am yet to see a significant number who say that these were not muslims.
Secondly, all the ahadith which you have quoted are still in the context of worshiping the graves as idols. If what you understand is true then the practice of the salaf was contrary to the teachings of RasoolAllah (peace and blessings be upon him):
1. Dawud ibn Salih said: "[The governor of Madina] Marwan [ibn al-Hakam] one day saw a man placing his face on top of the grave of the Prophet. He said: "Do you know what you are doing?" When he came near him, he realized it was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. The latter said: "Yes; I came to the Prophet, not to a stone." Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, Ahmad (5:422), Al-Tabarani in his Mu`jam al-Kabir (4:189) and his Awsat according to Haythami in al-Zawa'id (5:245 and 5:441 #5845 Book of Hajj, "Section on the honoring of the dwellers of Madina, chapter on placing one's face against the grave of our Master the Prophet
" and #9252 Book of Khilafa, "Chapter on the leadership of those unworthy of it"), al-Hakim in his Mustadrak (4:515); both the latter and al-Dhahabi said it was sahih. It is also cited by al-Subki in Shifa' al-siqam (p. 126) and Ibn Taymiyya in al-Muntaqa (2:261f.).
2. It is also narrated that Mu`adh ibn Jabal and Bilal came to the grave of the Prophet
and sat weeping, and the latter rubbed his face against it. Ibn Majah 2:1320, Ahmad, al-Tabarani, al-Subki, and Ibn `Asakir.
- taken from livingislam.org
So that Companions sat by RasoolAllah's grave, rubbed their face on it and wept while facing it. It clearly shows that the injunctions of the RasoolAllah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) were with regards to the worshiping of the grave as an idol and revering it as an object of worship.
And this the understanding of Ibn Hajr Asqalani (rha) who said when explaining the hadith in Sahih Bukhair on this subject, "if someone constructs a mosque near the grave of a pious person for the purpose of seeking tabarruk and not for prostration or paying attention towards them, he will never be included in this prohibition."
Imam Shafi(RA) visiting Tomb of Imam abu Hanifa (RA)
He describes his own experience about the blessings of the tomb of Imam Abū Hanīfa: I derive blessing from the person of Imam Abū Hanīfa and I visit his grave everyday. When I face a prblem,I offer two optional cycles of prayer and visit his grave and (while standing) I pray to Allah to solve my problem. And I have not even left the place that my prblem is solved.
Reference:
Khatīb Baghdādī has related the incident with a sound chain of transmission in his Tārīkh Baghdād (1:123)
Ibn Hajar Haythamī, al-Khayrāt-ul-hisān fī manāqib-il-imām al-a‘zam Abū Hanīfah (p.94)
Muhammad Zāhid Kawtharī, Maqālāt (p.381)
Ibn ‘Ābidīn Shāmī in Radd-ul-muhtār ‘alā Durr-il-mukhtār (1:41).
Imam Ibn Hibban (rah)
the great Muhadith from Islaaf as Saliheen (rah) [d. 354 AH] said regarding visitation to tomb of Imam Ali Raza bin Musa (ra):I have done ziyarah of his tomb many times, during my stay at Tus, whenever I got into any difficulty I went to the grave of Imam Musa raza (ra) and asked Allah for the fulfillment of my need, every time I was answered and my difficulty was removed. This is such a reality that I found it to be true nomatter how many times I did it May Allah grant us death in the true love for Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his blessed Ahlul Bayt. [Ibn Abi Hatim Razi, Kitab al Thiqat, Volume No. 8, Page No. 457, Number: 14411]
Similarly, neither of the companions (Allah's mercy be upon them) saw any harm in the burial of Hazrat Abu Bakr and Hazrat Umar (Allah's mercy be upon them) in a building which was at the same time attached to the mosque:
Imam at-Tabari and Hafiz Ibn Kathir write, in 88 AH, that the room of ‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) – where there are graves of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them)- was joined to the mosque of the Prophet.
Reference: Tareeh Tabari and Tar'ikh Hafiz Ibn Kathir, Chapter of Government of Walid ibn 'abd al-Malik
If I go by your interpretation then not only where the salafs acting against the teachings but also the companions. Therefore, I will stick with the understanding which the scholars i mentioned earlier have drawn on this subject.
Mullah Ali Qari (Rehmatullah Alaih) writes:
أما من اتخذ مسجدا في جوار صالح أو صلى في مقبرة وقصد الإستظهار بروحه أو وصول أثر ما من أثر عبادته إليه لا للتعظيم له والتوجه نحوه فلا حرج عليه ألا ترى أن مرقد إسماعيل عليه السلام في المسجد الحرام عند الحطيم ثم أن ذلك المسجد أفضل مكان يتحرى المصلى لصلاته والنهي عن الصلاة في المقابر مختص بالقبور المنبوشة لما فيها من النجاسة كذا ذكره الطيبي وذكر غيره أن صورة قبر إسماعيل عليه السلام في الحجر تحت الميزاب وإن في الحطيم بين الحجر الأسود وزمزم قبر سبعين نبيا
Translation: Anyone who builds a mosque near the grave of an upright person or prays in the tomb (Maqbara) or intends to ask for help through the Ruh of that upright person or intends to seek barakah from his left overs, If he does all that without the intention of giving him Tazeem or doing tawajuh towards him ( in prayer) “Then there is nothing wrong in that, don’t you see that Grave of Hadrat Ismail(A.S) is inside the Masjid ul Harram near the hateem and to Pray there is Superior than anything else ” however to pray near the graves is only forbidden when the soil becomes dirty because of Najasat of deceased… In the Hateem near Hajr al Aswad and Mizaab there are “Graves of 70 Prophets” [Mirqat, Sharh al Mishqaat, Volume No. 2, Page No. 202]
Mullah Ali Qari (Rehmatullah Alaih) also said:
وقد أباح السلف البناء على قبر المشايخ والعلماء المشهورين ليزورهم الناس ويستريحوا بالجلوس فيه
Translation: The early Muslims (Salaf) have considered it Mubah (i.e. allowed) to build over the graves of famous Mashaikh and Ulama so that people can visit them and sit there (easily) [Mirqaat Sharh al Misshqaat, Volume No. 4, Page No. 69]
Similarly, Imam Ibn Hajr al Asqalani (rah) writes in his magnificent Fath ul Bari (commentary on Sahih Bukhari):
In view of the fact that the Jews and Christians were taking the graves of their Prophets as their qibla for the purpose of respect, and were paying attention towards them at the time of their prayers, their graves took the position of idols. For this reason the Muslims have been forbidden from this action. However, if someoneconstructs a mosque near the grave of a pious person for the prupose of seeking tabarruk and not for prostration or paying attention towards them, he will never be included in this prohibition.( Ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-bari, vol. 3, p. 208)
you are entitled to your own understanding. Neither should bulldoze the interpretation we understand onto each other.