Designating a Cemetery for Each Family
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Question: In our society, it is customary regarding cemeteries that each family designates a portion of their land as a cemetery, in which no one is buried except members of that family. Sometimes the land designated for the cemetery is small, so they bury more than one deceased person in the same grave until it sometimes reaches four or five layers. In addition, there is another type of grave we call al-fasqiyyah, which contains a large number of deceased people. Is this practice permissible or not?
Answer: In principle, there is no objection to each family designating land to be a cemetery for their members, as long as that plot is suitable for burial and spacious enough to accommodate many deceased. If it is exhausted, becomes narrow, and there is no space left for future graves, then the deceased are buried in another place, and they are not buried in the graves that were previously occupied, because it is not permissible to bury a new grave in an existing grave unless the body of the first person has decomposed and perished, leaving no remains. As long as the first body has remains and bones, it is not permissible to bury another deceased person with it, because the first person preceded to this and became exclusive to it, even if there is a barrier between them. Because digging up the grave, digging the grave anew, and opening the grave anew, this is not permissible, because there is no justification for it. So they must bury their deceased in another place as much as possible, and not disturb the previous deceased.
Question: Regarding the other type they call al-fasqiyyah?
Answer: Likewise, as we mentioned, it is not permissible to dig up a grave in which a deceased person has already preceded and been buried; it is not permissible to dig it up again until the first deceased person has decomposed and disappeared.
Question: If the deceased died at the same time, is it permissible in this case to combine more than one?
Answer: If the dead are many and there is no one able to bury each deceased person individually, there is no harm in doing so out of necessity.
Answer: In principle, there is no objection to each family designating land to be a cemetery for their members, as long as that plot is suitable for burial and spacious enough to accommodate many deceased. If it is exhausted, becomes narrow, and there is no space left for future graves, then the deceased are buried in another place, and they are not buried in the graves that were previously occupied, because it is not permissible to bury a new grave in an existing grave unless the body of the first person has decomposed and perished, leaving no remains. As long as the first body has remains and bones, it is not permissible to bury another deceased person with it, because the first person preceded to this and became exclusive to it, even if there is a barrier between them. Because digging up the grave, digging the grave anew, and opening the grave anew, this is not permissible, because there is no justification for it. So they must bury their deceased in another place as much as possible, and not disturb the previous deceased.
Question: Regarding the other type they call al-fasqiyyah?
Answer: Likewise, as we mentioned, it is not permissible to dig up a grave in which a deceased person has already preceded and been buried; it is not permissible to dig it up again until the first deceased person has decomposed and disappeared.
Question: If the deceased died at the same time, is it permissible in this case to combine more than one?
Answer: If the dead are many and there is no one able to bury each deceased person individually, there is no harm in doing so out of necessity.