Carrying out a bequest to transfer a deceased person for burial in al-Madinah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. My father is currently ill and in the hospital. The illness has severely exhausted him. Whenever I visit him, he always gives me this instruction and tells me: If Allah wills and grants me my appointed time, transfer me from Riyadh and bury me in al-Madinah al-Munawwarah. There are hadiths that encourage this, such as “Whoever is able to die in al-Madinah, let him die there.” Is it permissible for me to carry out my father’s bequest? And if it is not permissible, is there a sin on me?
Answer:
You have the choice. If you wish to take him there, do so. If you wish to bury him with the Muslims, you may do that. This is a bequest that is not obligatory. This is a bequest that is not obligatory. If it is facilitated for you to take him and bury him in al-Madinah, there is no harm in that. And if you bury him with the Muslims in Riyadh or in any other place, there is no harm in that. A person has nothing but his deeds, whether he is buried in al-Madinah, in India, in the East, or in the West; he has nothing but his deeds. The Companions used to pass away outside of al-Madinah and they did not transfer them to al-Madinah, because they knew that this is not prescribed. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. My father is currently ill and in the hospital. The illness has severely exhausted him. Whenever I visit him, he always gives me this instruction and tells me: If Allah wills and grants me my appointed time, transfer me from Riyadh and bury me in al-Madinah al-Munawwarah. There are hadiths that encourage this, such as “Whoever is able to die in al-Madinah, let him die there.” Is it permissible for me to carry out my father’s bequest? And if it is not permissible, is there a sin on me?
Answer:
You have the choice. If you wish to take him there, do so. If you wish to bury him with the Muslims, you may do that. This is a bequest that is not obligatory. This is a bequest that is not obligatory. If it is facilitated for you to take him and bury him in al-Madinah, there is no harm in that. And if you bury him with the Muslims in Riyadh or in any other place, there is no harm in that. A person has nothing but his deeds, whether he is buried in al-Madinah, in India, in the East, or in the West; he has nothing but his deeds. The Companions used to pass away outside of al-Madinah and they did not transfer them to al-Madinah, because they knew that this is not prescribed. Yes.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب قول الله - تعالى - : { فَلا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَنْدَاداً وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ } — islamhouse.com (1:07:07)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.