Decision on the Grave of the Holy Prophet (sa)

After the demise of the Holy Prophet (sa), a debate ensued amongst the people as to whether the grave of the Holy Prophet (sa) should be prepared with a bricked hollow cavity inside or without. Subsequently, Hazrat Abbas (ra) sent someone to call Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) bin Jarrah and Hazrat Abu Talha (ra) and decided that whichever of the two came first, he would decide how the grave should be prepared. Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) prepared the graves like the people of Mecca did which was without a bricked hollow cavity inside, while Hazrat Abu Talha (ra) prepared the graves like the people of Medina which was with a bricked hollow cavity. The individual who was sent to Hazrat Abu Talha (ra) was able to find him while the other individual was not able to find Hazrat Abu Ubaidah (ra) and thus Hazrat Abu Talha (ra) came and a grave with a bricked hollow cavity was prepared for the Holy Prophet (sa).

(Ibn Hisham, Sirat Ibn Hisham, Vol. 2, Hufr al-Qabr [Egypt: Mustafa al-Babi, 1955] 663.)