Graves are small rooms built of stone, one meter high
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Praise be to Allah alone, and may prayers and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. After that: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from His Excellency, the Head of the Courts of the 'Asir Region, and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars under number (419)
and dated 19/4/1422 AH. His Excellency asked a question, the text of which is as follows: We inform Your Eminence that some of the brothers in charge of enforcing religious norms came to me with the attached summons, supported by photographs, stating that there are graves in Wadi Ahalali in Tihama 'Asir and other wadis where the Bedouin are numerous. These graves are small rooms built of stone, with a height of (one to half a meter) and a width of (one to two meters). Some are plastered and have small doors. Inside them are scattered, ancient bones. It appears from questioning the elders of the Bedouin in that area that they used to place more than one person inside those rooms and lock the door with stones. The people of the area call them "Hilali graves." There are also graves called "Mudharib," which are carved into the side of the mountain and have an external door with a height of (60 cm). Some of them face a direction other than the qiblah. Given the matter as described, I submit to Your Eminence's attention what is mentioned above and what is mentioned in the summoner's letter, and we hope for guidance on what you deem appropriate in accordance with the rules of the pure Shari'ah.
After the Committee studied the inquiry, it responded that if the land of the wadi mentioned in the question is suitable for digging graves, then building graves is not necessary and is part of the raising of graves that has been prohibited. If such construction is found, it must be removed and the grave leveled with the ground; for it is established in the authentic collection of Muslim - may Allah have mercy on him - from Abu
al-Hayyaj al-Asadi who said:Riyad as-Salihin 1687 . And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited Mishkat al-Masabih 1697 . Accordingly, the remains found in these graves built on the surface of the ground without necessity should be gathered, with the remains of each grave wrapped in a cloth, and a hole dug for it in the same cemetery, where it is placed and its surface leveled like the other graves, to protect it from desecration. It is obligatory to fence these cemeteries to preserve them from being traversed and to protect them from harm. If the area is mountainous and there is land nearby suitable for a cemetery that can be accessed without expense, then their cemetery should be in that land, to preserve the dead and facilitate matters for the living, which is preferable to building a grave in the mountainous area, where that is permissible out of necessity to the extent of the necessity. It is necessary to distinguish between building a grave, which is permissible out of necessity, and building on a grave, which is not permissible and is one of the means to shirk (associating partners with Allah).
and dated 19/4/1422 AH. His Excellency asked a question, the text of which is as follows: We inform Your Eminence that some of the brothers in charge of enforcing religious norms came to me with the attached summons, supported by photographs, stating that there are graves in Wadi Ahalali in Tihama 'Asir and other wadis where the Bedouin are numerous. These graves are small rooms built of stone, with a height of (one to half a meter) and a width of (one to two meters). Some are plastered and have small doors. Inside them are scattered, ancient bones. It appears from questioning the elders of the Bedouin in that area that they used to place more than one person inside those rooms and lock the door with stones. The people of the area call them "Hilali graves." There are also graves called "Mudharib," which are carved into the side of the mountain and have an external door with a height of (60 cm). Some of them face a direction other than the qiblah. Given the matter as described, I submit to Your Eminence's attention what is mentioned above and what is mentioned in the summoner's letter, and we hope for guidance on what you deem appropriate in accordance with the rules of the pure Shari'ah.
After the Committee studied the inquiry, it responded that if the land of the wadi mentioned in the question is suitable for digging graves, then building graves is not necessary and is part of the raising of graves that has been prohibited. If such construction is found, it must be removed and the grave leveled with the ground; for it is established in the authentic collection of Muslim - may Allah have mercy on him - from Abu
al-Hayyaj al-Asadi who said:
'Ali bin Abu Talib (May Allah be pleased with him) said to me: "Shall I not send you to do a task that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had assigned to me? Spare no portrait unwiped out, and leave not a high grave unlevelled."
قال لي علي بن أبي طالب - رضي الله عنه - : ألا أبعثك على ما بعثني عليه رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - : ألا تدع صورة إلا طمستها ولا قبرًا مشرفًا إلا سويتهthat graves should be plastered with gypsum, that any erection should be built over them, and that people should sit on them
أن يجصص القبر وأن يبنى عليه وأن يقعد عليه
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.