Date : 19-09-2017

Question :

I have buried my father in a grave next to a woman`s. However, her family objected to that and demanded that I dig up the grave and transport the corpse to another place. What is the Islamic ruling on this?


The Answer :

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.



It isn`t permissible to exhume the grave and transport the deceased to another place except for a valid Sharia-based reason, and the aim is preserving the sanctity of its dweller. An-Nawawi says, "It is forbidden to exhume a grave and transport the deceased save for a necessity: the deceased was buried without Ghusl(Washing), was buried in a usurped piece of land, was shrouded in usurped burial clothe, was buried in a direction other than Quiblah, or someone`s money fell in that grave."{Menhajj At-Talibeen, 62}.



As each of the above deceased individuals was buried in a separate grave, then there is no valid reason for transporting that man`s corpse, because the deceased are occupied with matters far more serious than this. 'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: I heard Messenger of Allah (Blessings and peace be upon him) saying, "The people will be assembled on the Day of Resurrection barefooted, naked and uncircumcised". I said, "O Messenger of Allah! Will the men and the women be together on that Day; looking at one another?" Upon this Messenger of Allah (Blessings and peace be upon him) said, "O Aishah, the matter will be too serious for them to look at one another".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].  



In conclusion, we advise that woman`s family to make supplication for her, ask Allah to forgive her, and set aside the whispers of the devil. Moreover, it isn`t permissible to exhume a grave after burying someone in it so long as it is within a public Muslim cemetery. This is in order to preserve the sanctity of its dweller. And Allah the Almighty knows best.