Ruling on moving a deceased person to another grave for necessity and the management of cemeteries
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This is a question from the listener Muhammad Yunis Ata, from the Arab Republic of Egypt. He says: My father passed away while I was still young, so he was buried in my uncle’s cemetery. After several years had passed, a dispute arose between me and my uncle, and he said to me: Remove your father from my cemetery. He threatened me with harm if I did not do so, so I found no solution but to comply with his request and move my father’s body to a cemetery that belongs to me. Is there any sin on me for that? And are cemeteries the property of the living, who can dispose of them as they wish, or are they the property of their inhabitants?
Please inform us, may Allah reward you.
Answer:
Moving him for this necessity is permissible. Moving your father from one cemetery to another to ward off harm and fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is permissible for you, and there is no blame on you in that, and praise be to Allah.
As for cemeteries, they differ. If the one who endowed them intended them for specific people, then no one else may be buried in them without his permission. If he designated them for his relatives, his neighbors, or a specific tribe, then no one else may be buried in them without his permission.
However, if he intended them for Muslims in general, for himself, his neighbors, and Muslims, provided he did not intend a specific group, then there is no objection to burying in them someone other than the relatives he intended, provided he did not intend them for a specific person but rather endowed them for Muslims. In that case, there is no objection to burial in them, and burial in them is open to everyone.
And since he threatened you and pressured you until you removed your father, there is no blame on you. Avoiding fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is required, and warding off harm is required. Moving him in such a situation is without blame, if Allah wills, because of the removal of difficulty, and the warding off of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) and harm, yes.
The presenter: But is this person not sinful for his action after he had agreed to his burial?
The Shaykh: This is not permissible. This is not permissible. The one who ordered it is not permitted to do this. As long as he gave permission for his burial in his land and cemetery, he has no right to retract after that. Rather, he is sinful in this matter and mistaken, yes, he is wrong in this matter, yes.
This is a question from the listener Muhammad Yunis Ata, from the Arab Republic of Egypt. He says: My father passed away while I was still young, so he was buried in my uncle’s cemetery. After several years had passed, a dispute arose between me and my uncle, and he said to me: Remove your father from my cemetery. He threatened me with harm if I did not do so, so I found no solution but to comply with his request and move my father’s body to a cemetery that belongs to me. Is there any sin on me for that? And are cemeteries the property of the living, who can dispose of them as they wish, or are they the property of their inhabitants?
Please inform us, may Allah reward you.
Answer:
Moving him for this necessity is permissible. Moving your father from one cemetery to another to ward off harm and fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is permissible for you, and there is no blame on you in that, and praise be to Allah.
As for cemeteries, they differ. If the one who endowed them intended them for specific people, then no one else may be buried in them without his permission. If he designated them for his relatives, his neighbors, or a specific tribe, then no one else may be buried in them without his permission.
However, if he intended them for Muslims in general, for himself, his neighbors, and Muslims, provided he did not intend a specific group, then there is no objection to burying in them someone other than the relatives he intended, provided he did not intend them for a specific person but rather endowed them for Muslims. In that case, there is no objection to burial in them, and burial in them is open to everyone.
And since he threatened you and pressured you until you removed your father, there is no blame on you. Avoiding fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) is required, and warding off harm is required. Moving him in such a situation is without blame, if Allah wills, because of the removal of difficulty, and the warding off of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) and harm, yes.
The presenter: But is this person not sinful for his action after he had agreed to his burial?
The Shaykh: This is not permissible. This is not permissible. The one who ordered it is not permitted to do this. As long as he gave permission for his burial in his land and cemetery, he has no right to retract after that. Rather, he is sinful in this matter and mistaken, yes, he is wrong in this matter, yes.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.