What should someone who lives with his family in a house above graves do, when he does not possess the means to move to another residence?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
It is permissible to utilize dilapidated graves—those whose contents have decayed and left no trace—for burial, agriculture, and construction, provided they were not endowed. As for graves where traces of the deceased still remain, it is not permissible to exhume them, trespass upon them, or build or sit on them. If the enquirer is compelled to live in a house built on a graveyard and cannot find other shelter, they may remain, while avoiding desecrating the graves and exhuming what cannot be avoided from them, with the understanding that whatever remains in them should be transferred to Muslim cemeteries.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/111292
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 111292
- 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