They have old graveyards, and people use them as roads for their cars and animals, so what is your guidance?

Question:
We have some old graveyards that have ended up in the middle of residential areas, and people use them as paths on foot, by car, and by animal. What is your guidance for the people? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
It is obligatory to respect graveyards by not trampling on them, throwing waste on them, or defiling them. It is obligatory to fence the graveyards and enclose them in a way that protects them from the harm of people, animals, and others, because the dead have sanctity, and the sanctity of a Muslim in death is like his sanctity in life. Therefore, it is obligatory to protect the graves and prevent trampling on them, sitting on them, and other such acts of desecration. It was reported in the hadith: A group that purifies his heart and purifies to its likeness is better for him than sitting on a grave.
People are at two extremes regarding the issue of graves, and the first extreme is the one that has prevailed in graveyards, and in the graves of the righteous. They take them as a third partner besides Allah, and they make requests at them, seek blessing from them, and call upon the dead for aid. This is major shirk (associating partners with Allah). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade exaggeration regarding graves, whether they are the graves of prophets, the awliya (close friends of Allah), or the righteous. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade praying at graves because that is a means to shirk. He forbade building over graves because that is a means to shirk. He forbade writing on them, and he forbade whitewashing them, decorating them, and adorning them. All of this is for the sake of protecting tawhid (the oneness of Allah) from the strongest means of shirk. But a group opposed the prohibition of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in this matter, and they did everything he forbade around the graves, out of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) and to keep Satan away.
The second extreme is the opposite: they flatten the graves and do not see any sanctity in them. They use them as places to throw waste, or perhaps they build houses on them, or open roads through them, or do other such things. This is haram (forbidden); because the dead have ownership of the places where they are, and it is not permissible to encroach upon them. The middle path is that of the people of the Sunnah and the community, who protect the graves from harm and desecration, respect them, and enclose them with walls that prevent trampling on them. But they do not exaggerate in them as the exaggerators do; rather, they implement the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in them. This is the Prophetic guidance, and this is the middle methodology, and the best of matters is its middle. May Allah reward you with good, and may Allah reward you.