Hadith: May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians, they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship

عن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في مرضه الذي لم يقم منه: «لعن الله اليهود والنصارى؛ اتَّخَذُوا قُبُورَ أنبيائهم مساجد». قالت: ولولا ذلك لأُبْرِزَ قبره؛ غير أنه خُشِيَ أن يتخذ مسجدًا.
[صحيح] - [متفق عليه]

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that, during his terminal illness, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians, they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship." She added: "Had it not been for that, his grave would have been made prominent, but it was feared that it might be taken as a place of worship."
[Authentic hadith] - [Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim]

Explanation

Allah sent the Messengers to fulfill monotheism, and the best among them, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was very keen to fulfill that and to eliminate all the means which can lead to polytheism. ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was the one looking after the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) during his terminal illness, and she was there when his noble soul was taken. She mentioned that during that sickness, which he did not recover from, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was worried that his grave would be taken as a place of worship, and this would lead people to worship him instead of Allah, the Almighty. So he said: "May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians, they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship." He was either supplicating against them, or he was informing that Allah has cursed them. This clarifies the fact that it occurred during the last moments of his life and that it was not abrogated. He was warning against their actions, and the Companions understood his intention, so they placed him inside ‘Ā’ishah's room. It has never been transmitted from them, nor from anyone else of the righteous predecessors, that his noble grave was visited with the intention of praying and supplicating there. When the Sunnah was replaced with heretic innovations and people started to set out on journeys to visit graves, Allah protected His Prophet from what he disliked to be done at his grave, so He protected him with three strong veils which no heretic innovator can ever penetrate.