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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?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

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 · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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