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Is it permissible to move the body of the deceased or rebuild their grave if the grave is subject to deterioration?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The basic ruling is that it is forbidden to plaster graves or build upon them, except out of necessity, such as protecting the grave from collapse and the body from exposure. In such cases, building is permissible to the extent of the need, without beautification.

Similarly, it is permissible to move a deceased person's body from one grave to another for a valid reason, such as if the first grave is harming the deceased, or if it is in an unsuitable location, like a road or a flood-prone area. In such cases, it can be moved to a public cemetery. However, digging up a grave merely to change the type of brick is not permissible.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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