A nearby cemetery where the grave costs six thousand pounds, and a distant cemetery that is free; is this an excuse for burial in the distant cemetery?
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The questioner : Here is a question regarding the cemetery. He said: A nearby cemetery has no grave, and the price of a grave is six thousand pounds, while a distant one has a grave without paying anything. Is this an excuse for burial in the distant one?
The Shaykh : Without a doubt, it is an excuse, because the issue of nearness and distance is among the recommended matters. As for this calamity that has befallen the Muslims, which is one of the most astonishing calamities, I do not say that the solution is to be concerned with finding a shelter and a house to dwell in, but rather to be concerned with one of his houses, and he may be poor and forced to pay hundreds, if not thousands. This is one of the calamities. Then these moneys are paid as illicit gain, and I do not know how the state remains silent about this matter? If the state were not the first issue, not ruling by what Allah has revealed, but as they say, preserving the rights of the people, where is this right? All cemeteries are endowments for Muslims since hundreds of years, so they are not the property of anyone. So this cemetery keeper who takes the price of a grave, one thousand or two thousand or three thousand or a hundred, what is he taking the price of? Is this land where the dead of Muslims are buried his father's or grandfather's land? None of that is the case at all. So why is he silent about those who exploit the need of the living when... it was not long ago, we the poor would bury the dead and pay three Syrian pounds or five pounds... as a gratuity for the digger only. So we the poor today must pay five hundred or a thousand pounds, and others as you have heard. So this payment, if a person can avoid it, he should not pay it, because it actually helps in consuming the wealth of people by right. Therefore, I see in the previous question a nearby cemetery and the price of the grave is such and such, and a distant cemetery but perhaps it is free, or... free.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Well, if the matter is so, then I prefer to bury him there in the distant cemetery and avoid assisting these oppressors who consume the wealth of people by right. And perhaps this extent is sufficient, for I am a little tired tonight, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The Shaykh : Without a doubt, it is an excuse, because the issue of nearness and distance is among the recommended matters. As for this calamity that has befallen the Muslims, which is one of the most astonishing calamities, I do not say that the solution is to be concerned with finding a shelter and a house to dwell in, but rather to be concerned with one of his houses, and he may be poor and forced to pay hundreds, if not thousands. This is one of the calamities. Then these moneys are paid as illicit gain, and I do not know how the state remains silent about this matter? If the state were not the first issue, not ruling by what Allah has revealed, but as they say, preserving the rights of the people, where is this right? All cemeteries are endowments for Muslims since hundreds of years, so they are not the property of anyone. So this cemetery keeper who takes the price of a grave, one thousand or two thousand or three thousand or a hundred, what is he taking the price of? Is this land where the dead of Muslims are buried his father's or grandfather's land? None of that is the case at all. So why is he silent about those who exploit the need of the living when... it was not long ago, we the poor would bury the dead and pay three Syrian pounds or five pounds... as a gratuity for the digger only. So we the poor today must pay five hundred or a thousand pounds, and others as you have heard. So this payment, if a person can avoid it, he should not pay it, because it actually helps in consuming the wealth of people by right. Therefore, I see in the previous question a nearby cemetery and the price of the grave is such and such, and a distant cemetery but perhaps it is free, or... free.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Well, if the matter is so, then I prefer to bury him there in the distant cemetery and avoid assisting these oppressors who consume the wealth of people by right. And perhaps this extent is sufficient, for I am a little tired tonight, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.