How to Account for a Deceased Person Whose Burial Is Delayed or Impossible
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Your Eminence, Shaykh Muhammad! We testify to Allah of our love for you in Allah, as do those present.
The Shaykh: May Allah love you, the One in whom you loved us.
The questioner: Your Eminence! Regarding the questioning by the two angels in the grave, it is clear for one who dies and is buried. However, sometimes the deceased is placed in a refrigerator for a period that may reach months. So when does the questioning in the grave occur for him? Is it immediately upon his death, or immediately upon being placed in the grave? In some cases, the deceased is not buried, such as if he is in a plane that explodes or dies in the sea. How does the questioning by the two angels in the grave occur for him? And when does that happen?
Knowledge is with Allah, but I see that the questioning occurs when the people of this world hand him over to the world of the Hereafter. And the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he is questioned when buried is based on the common, observed practice.For example: The one who is placed in the refrigerator until the procedures for his death are completed is not questioned until he is handed over to the world of the Hereafter.Meaning: Until he is buried.
Likewise, the one who is burned, if we do not find his body, is held accountable. We will not be able to bury him or find his body, but it is obligatory to pray for him as an absent person. As for the one who can be buried, even if after a long time, as long as he has not been buried, he is not questioned.
The Shaykh: May Allah love you, the One in whom you loved us.
The questioner: Your Eminence! Regarding the questioning by the two angels in the grave, it is clear for one who dies and is buried. However, sometimes the deceased is placed in a refrigerator for a period that may reach months. So when does the questioning in the grave occur for him? Is it immediately upon his death, or immediately upon being placed in the grave? In some cases, the deceased is not buried, such as if he is in a plane that explodes or dies in the sea. How does the questioning by the two angels in the grave occur for him? And when does that happen?
Knowledge is with Allah, but I see that the questioning occurs when the people of this world hand him over to the world of the Hereafter. And the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he is questioned when buried is based on the common, observed practice.For example: The one who is placed in the refrigerator until the procedures for his death are completed is not questioned until he is handed over to the world of the Hereafter.Meaning: Until he is buried.
Likewise, the one who is burned, if we do not find his body, is held accountable. We will not be able to bury him or find his body, but it is obligatory to pray for him as an absent person. As for the one who can be buried, even if after a long time, as long as he has not been buried, he is not questioned.