Is it permissible for the family of a deceased Muslim to agree to his Christian wife praying over him in the church first, then praying over him in the mosque and burying him in Muslim cemeteries, in order to prevent the harm of burying him in Christian cemeteries?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
The Shari'ah came to realize benefits and minimize harms. If two harms conflict, the lesser is tolerated to avert the greater. It would have been better for these people, had they known that the woman would overpower them, to agree with her on holding the funeral in the church, and then they would take charge of it afterward. The harm of holding the funeral in the church is far less than what occurred, namely burying him without washing, shrouding, or praying over him, if their opposition was the reason she refused to enable them to bury him.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/113097
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 113097
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy