What is the ruling on burial in the lands of the disbelievers? Where they mix Muslims and disbelievers in one cemetery.

The questioner : The first question is about the ruling on burial in the lands of the disbelievers. However, I must clarify this issue so that the ruling is clear to our Shaykh, if Allah wills. In the lands of disbelief, they bury the Muslim in one cemetery with the disbelievers and give him a place next to the wall, opposite the graves of the disbelievers, so that the only barrier is a passage between the Muslim and the disbeliever. This is from one side. From the other side, one must pay a fee for a period of fifteen years. When this period ends, one must pay another fee. If he does not pay, they take out the coffin and burn it. Then, if there is no one to prepare this Muslim for burial, they take this Muslim to the place of dissection, where they learn and practice on him. That is the end of it.

The Shaykh : Is the question finished?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : This question is a branch of a question that should have been presented before that one: What is the ruling on Muslims settling in the lands of the disbelievers? I think it is known to you, at least because of how much we have spoken with you by phone and with others, that it is not permissible for a Muslim to settle in the lands of disbelief. We used to mention general statements because this residence, or this cohabitation, brings many harms to the resident among the polytheists, in himself and in his family. Now you are asking about one of the effects of Muslims settling in the lands of the disbelievers and polytheists. Here it is said: "What is built upon what is defective is defective," "What is built upon what is forbidden is forbidden," "What leads to what is forbidden is forbidden." If settling in the lands of the polytheists were permissible, but such a harm as you are asking about now resulted from it, that would be sufficient to say that settling in the lands of the polytheists is not permissible. How much more so, when there are many hadiths from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbidding the Muslim from sharing the lands of the polytheists with them. Among them is his saying (peace be upon him): They must live far away. And resulting from this question is the clarification that the issue differs between polytheists settling in the lands of Islam and Muslims settling in the lands of disbelief and tyranny. The first is permissible, such as the marriage of a Muslim to a woman from the People of the Book. The other is not permissible, such as marrying a Muslim woman to a man from the People of the Book. This is because the cohabitation of polytheists with Muslims in their lands is the opposite of a Muslim residing in the lands of disbelief. In the former, there is attraction to Islam and introduction to Islam. Even so, if there are disbelievers in the lands of Muslims who live there and one of them dies, it is not permissible to bury him in the cemeteries of Muslims. Rather, he is buried in the cemeteries of the disbelievers. The cemetery of Muslims must be completely separate from the cemetery of the polytheists. The Messenger (peace be upon him) once passed by the cemetery of Muslims and said: Then he passed by the cemetery of the polytheists and said about them: Or as he (peace be upon him) said. Therefore, one of the effects of Muslims settling in the lands of disbelief is this problem. First, it is not permissible for a Muslim to be buried next to a disbeliever, even if that wall separates the two cemeteries as you mentioned. Second, it is not permissible to dig up the graves of Muslims, no matter how long the time, except in the case where the dead body becomes a pile of dust. At that time, the dead person has no value because he has become dust. It is sufficient to know from the details of the question that all of this is not permissible, from A to Z. We have known this problem for about twenty years in the lands of Europe. That is, Muslims do not have a cemetery there in which to bury their dead. Rather, they rent land from the state for a limited number of years. If the time ends, if they rent it again, they continue to bury; otherwise, the disaster I mentioned earlier occurs. In summary, all the details mentioned in the speech are not permissible by the Shari'ah, and it is one of the effects of settling in the lands of disbelief, which is not permissible. What is built upon what is defective is defective. Give me another one.