Questions about the method of burial using wood?

The questioner : The issue here is that you mentioned placing wood from the spine or... well, if it is wood that can bear the tons of weight on it without breaking, and it needs to last a thousand years, what does it matter to us if it lasts as long as it lasts? Or is it necessary for it to last a very long time, as long as it bears the weight? And its cost should not be high, because teak might... or this wood might be three times the price, for example, so they might save us...?

The Shaykh : Do you mean, Abu 'Adnan, that it is better to have no grave chamber at all?

The questioner : No, if the grave chamber is not possible, we need it.

The Shaykh : If the grave chamber is not possible, there is no problem; the matter is easy. In that case, it is permissible in whatever way is easiest, without making it difficult or artificial. But as I said earlier, let us be clear in applying the Shari'ah, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes.

The questioner : Even if we make a grave chamber, do we sometimes put wood on the side?

The Shaykh : Ah, for what? You are adding difficulty now. For what is the wood?

The questioner : So that the soil does not come onto the deceased.

The Shaykh : The soil does not come onto the deceased, my brother. If the soil comes behind the back of the deceased, is that called coming onto the deceased?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I am asking you a question, Abu 'Adnan. You are an Arab. This soil that came behind the back of the deceased, did it come onto the deceased? I am asking you!

The questioner : Of course, it came right next to him.

The Shaykh: There is no power nor strength except with Allah.

The questioner : On his back. Well, yes.

The Shaykh : May Allah guide you. One word and it covered it. Did the soil come onto the deceased?

The questioner : It came on his back.

The Shaykh : So, if someone fell and sat next to you, did it come on you?

The questioner : No, next to me.

The Shaykh : That is next to him.

The questioner : The grave chamber, we need to understand. We made a grave chamber, we opened the side underneath. If the soil held... the side we dug and went under the soil, or the one we found and placed the deceased in, and his upper back comes... well, if we put something behind him, does that mean if we put soil on the back of the deceased...

Another questioner : ... Most of the young men sitting here also...

The Shaykh : Listen, Abu 'Adnan. These are our brothers. They see this facade, this qiblah, and this ground. Here is the trench at the bottom of this trench, where the ground is level. This trench is opened to the size of the deceased, in length, width, small or large, and so on. We place the deceased here, just as we placed the paper, so our people no longer see it. The soil on this trench, where did the soil come? It came behind his back. Yes, you have solved the problem. Perhaps, but I do not know, Abu 'Adnan, if the problem is solved.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Where did the soil come now?

The questioner : Behind his back.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. This is what the Shari'ah requires.

The questioner : There is no soil, meaning?

The Shaykh : What soil, Abu 'Adnan? You are enthusiastic tonight, what Allah wills. Be patient a little. The space you mean behind his back, or from all its sides, one by one, there is no space at all.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Now, if we imagine a hypothetical picture, the soil that is poured on this trench, usually, if it rains, and you know better than me, what happens to the soil that was level with the surface of the ground.

The questioner : It goes down.