Cremation of the Dead
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Fatwa No. ( 18707 )
Q: Singapore is a country with a small land area, and most of its land has been utilized for building apartments and establishing factories. Due to the scarcity of land, the Singaporean government encourages its citizens to cremate the dead , but this does not apply to Muslims, as they must bury their dead. The government is currently considering the issue of the limited cemetery land for Muslims in Singapore on a long-term basis. In this regard, the Singaporean government wishes to learn more about the possibility of using land intensively for burial purposes and about the traditions and Sunnahs of burial.
A : The principle in the Islamic Shari'ah is that every deceased person should be buried in a separate grave if possible, and no one else should be buried with them, whether they died at the same time or later. Likewise, the principle is that it is not permissible to exhume the dead after a period of time and take them from their graves to place them in a single pit. However, if this is not possible due to the narrowness of the space and no other place is available, or if there is great hardship in burying each person individually due to a large number of deaths caused by a plague, killing, or the like, then it is permissible to bury more than one deceased person in a single grave.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: Singapore is a country with a small land area, and most of its land has been utilized for building apartments and establishing factories. Due to the scarcity of land, the Singaporean government encourages its citizens to cremate the dead , but this does not apply to Muslims, as they must bury their dead. The government is currently considering the issue of the limited cemetery land for Muslims in Singapore on a long-term basis. In this regard, the Singaporean government wishes to learn more about the possibility of using land intensively for burial purposes and about the traditions and Sunnahs of burial.
A : The principle in the Islamic Shari'ah is that every deceased person should be buried in a separate grave if possible, and no one else should be buried with them, whether they died at the same time or later. Likewise, the principle is that it is not permissible to exhume the dead after a period of time and take them from their graves to place them in a single pit. However, if this is not possible due to the narrowness of the space and no other place is available, or if there is great hardship in burying each person individually due to a large number of deaths caused by a plague, killing, or the like, then it is permissible to bury more than one deceased person in a single grave.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.