Burying more than one deceased person in a single grave and the method of placing the deceased in the grave

Question:
The questioner asks in his fourth question: It is our custom, due to the difficulty of digging the grave, that we are forced to bury three to four people in one grave, and this is after more than a year has passed. Is that permissible? Also, when placing the deceased in the grave, we put him in on his feet from the head end of the grave. Is that permissible for us?

Answer:
The Sunnah is for each person to be in a separate grave, as the Muslims did in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and after him, and for the deceased to be placed in from the head end, not from the feet end. This is the Sunnah, and this is the best. Even if the ground is hard and each person is buried alone, this may be a trial for the one doing it, but he is rewarded for it. It is not permissible to gather them in one grave except in cases of dire necessity, such as when there is a general disease or a widespread plague where many people die, or many are killed in battle, making it difficult to give each person a separate grave. In such cases, there is no harm in placing two or three in one grave due to the large number of deaths caused by the plague or the fighting, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did on the day of Uhud. The best practice is to place the head toward the qiblah. However, in normal circumstances, it is not permissible to gather two or three in one grave; rather, it is obligatory for each person to be separate. If digging is possible, a grave should be dug for him. If digging is not possible, a grave should be made for him from stones until it is completed and its openings are sealed, so that no one is buried with him.