Carrying and burying the deceased

Q: Can a non-Muslim go in the qabar to bury the deceased?

Q: Can one put aayaat of the Qur'an, Surah Yaseen, etc into the Qabar?

Q: If a family member arrives late at the qabrastaan and requests to see the face of the deceased relative (male or female), can he be allowed to view the face?

Q: If the body was buried without being made to face the qiblah, what should be done?

Q: Which direction must the body of the deceased face when placed in the qabar, e.g. if the right side of the body faces the qiblah then must the body be made to lie on the front wall of the qabar or the back wall of the qabar?

Q:

1. If a non-muslim passes away and he does not have any relative to bury him besides one Muslim relative, will it be permissible for the Muslim relative to bury the non-muslim deceased? Further, if the Muslim relative does not have wealth to pay for the burial, can one assist him by giving him some wealth to fulfill this need?

2. After a non-muslim is buried, generally the family of the non-muslim feed those who attended the burial. During this meal, alcohol is served. Will it be permissible for the Muslim relative to honor this custom by hosting it or contributing to it in any way? Similarly, if it is permissible for other Muslims to assist the Muslim relative financially, can the money that they give him be used for this meal?

Q: In the UK and more specifically London we are facing great difficulties in securing further burial spaces for our Muslim community. Up to now our community has used a mix of council run cemeteries with dedicated areas for Muslims and in recent years we have had a two dedicated purpose built Muslim cemeteries. The problem we face in London is that the majority of council run cemeteries have now run out of space or are on the brink of running out of space. The result is that in parts of London the cost of a burial is around £5000 and rising yearly which is mostly unaffordable to most. As well as that, within the current climate of major property developments in London, rising land costs, and the current climate with Muslims in the UK it is becoming extremely difficult upon those current Muslim cemeteries to purchase further land. Our cemetery launched recently and after discussing with the local Ulama we concluded on providing “double depth burials” to ensure we extend the life of the cemetery as much as possible for future generations which will also assist in maintaining a lower price on burials. We are currently able to provide a burial for £2500 and by offering the option of double burials can extend the life of the cemetery by almost double. We have also been able to offer additional support for La-Warith cases due to this method. However, our community is majorly concerned with the validity of such an offering and are extremely reluctant to accept this solution at this moment until further approval. For this reason, we are reaching out to Ulama across the UK and across the globe to review this and respond as our personal experience with Ulama has told us that this is not an issue at all and actually a sensible approach to overcoming the challenge we are facing. This method has actually already been implemented in other parts of the UK but as it has not been documented as a fatwa we and other new facilities will face difficulties in being able to convince the community. We hope that this response from the Ulama at large will provide our community with ease and also be used by further cemeteries in this situation. Please could you review our method below and provide you conclusion on this matter.

Double interment Burials:

• A 6 ft. grave is purchased by an owner in agreement that it will be used in the future by a second individual.

• The first person is buried as normal at the bottom of the grave 7 ft down in a shiq method with wooden planks laying flat upon a ridge to cover the body.

• The soil is replaced

• Later on when the second person passes away only 5 ft is re dug from the top of the same grave and the second person is buried above the space of the first.

• This method ensures that a barrier of wooden planks and at least a foot of soil separates the two interments.

• Under no circumstance is the first interment exposed or disturbed during this procedure as our digging team are aware of stopping at least one foot before they reach the soil of the first grave.

• The second person is buried with at least 3 foot of soil above to ensure no animals or the smell of determination does not reach the surface.

Q: A close relative passed away about six weeks ago. He was buried in a grave allocated by the burial service and administrators of the grave yard. I was recently approached by a friend and was told that it was a private grave which was paid for by their family and I was asked if it was possible to move the marhooms body to another grave. I find this very difficult. Please advise urgently.

Q: When carrying the janaazah, which direction should the body face e.g. head in front or feet in front?

Q:

1. When placing the janaza in the house which direction must the body face?

2. Where must the janaza be placed e.g. floor or can it be placed on the bed?

3. If the person has no muslim family can the janaza be taken to his or her non muslim family home?

4. Are the non muslim family members allowed to view the face?