Does Religious Law Permit Visiting Egyptian Pyramids?

Pyramids are graves of polytheists, and a Muslim is permitted to visit them for the sake of a moral lesson (pertaining to death and the world to come) based on the Prophet's words in the hadith: "Visit tombs, for they remind you of the world to come". Other religious authorities, however, have prohibited visiting the pyramids because they are tombs of infidels.
In May 2004, Sheikh Maher Al-Qahtani, which specializes in the traditions of the Prophet, posted a fatwa that forbids visiting Egyptian pyramids on the grounds that they enclose the graves of infidels. "It is forbidden to enter the homes [of infidels] or the ruins of the homes in which they used to dwell, and it is forbidden to visit them if it is known that infidel tyrants [dwelt there]. If a [Muslim] visitor must pass by [such places], he must do so in haste - according to what has been transmitted to us by Bukhari and Muslim through Ibn 'Omar - for when the Prophet passed by the stones [ruins of structures], he said: 'Do not enter the homes of [the infidels] who inflicted iniquity upon themselves [i.e. harmed themselves by failing to embrace Islam], unless you are weeping [from fear] that you will be harmed by that which harmed them.' He then faced forward [without looking right or left] and walked at a quick pace until he left the wadi behind. More...