Back to search
The question

What is Islam's ruling on building on land that was a Muslim cemetery a hundred years ago, and no burials have taken place there during this period, taking into account the opinion of the Hanafī scholars and citing the reference with volume and page number?

Share this answer

Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Scholars have differed on the ruling concerning benefiting from dilapidated graves (where the deceased have decayed and no trace of them remains). The majority of scholars, including the Hanafis, Shafi'is, and Hanbalis, have held the view that it is permissible to benefit from them for burial, plowing, cultivation, construction, and all other forms of utilization, provided the land is not endowed.

However, if there remains any trace of the deceased, such as a bone or anything else, it is not permissible to exhume their graves for construction; for the sanctity of the deceased is like the sanctity of the living, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Indeed, breaking the bone of a believer after his death is like breaking it while he is alive."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported

Read the full answer on Ftawy
Where this answer came from
Source platform
Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
39548
Imported
Translation status
Source text, unreviewed
Read the full ruling
Read the full answer on Ftawy