Friday 19 Ramadan 1445 - 29 March 2024
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If there is no Muslim graveyard or there is one but it is too expensive, where should the Muslim be buried?

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Publication : 19-04-2007

Views : 15819

Question

The price of graves where we live is very expensive. A child died and we could not afford to buy a grave for him so that he could be buried in the Muslim graveyard, so we took him to the forest and buried him there. What is the ruling on that?.

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

If it is not possible to bury a Muslim in the Muslim graveyard because there is no Muslim graveyard or because it is too expensive, there is nothing wrong with burying him in the desert or forest, and levelling the ground so that it will not be dug up. 

The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas was asked: What is the ruling if a Muslim dies in France and it is not possible to transport him to an Arab land, and there is no graveyard just for the Muslims in the town where he died. Can he be buried in the Christian graveyard or what? Similarly, there is no place there for washing the deceased Muslims except the place that is used for washing deceased Christians. Can the deceased Muslims be washed there, if it is not possible to wash the deceased Muslim in his house? 

They replied: If there is no Muslim graveyard then if a Muslim dies he should not be buried in the Christian graveyard, rather they should look for a place in the desert and bury him there, and level the ground so that it will not be dug up. If it is possible to transport him to a land where there is a Muslim graveyard without great expense then that is better. As for washing the deceased Muslim in the place where deceased kaafirs are washed, there is nothing wrong with that if it is not possible to find an alternative without incurring expense. End quote. 

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (8/454). 

And Allaah knows best.

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Source: Islam Q&A