What is the ruling on someone who secretly embraced Islam and then passed away, and whose family, unaware of his conversion, prayed over him and buried him according to Christian rites? Does he die as a Muslim or as a disbeliever?

The jurists have agreed on the prohibition of burying a Muslim in the graveyards of disbelievers and vice versa, except out of necessity. If a Muslim dies in the lands of disbelievers, it is obligatory to transport their body to Muslim lands for burial, if possible. If transportation is not feasible, they should be buried in the lands of disbelievers but outside their graveyards.

As for the oppressed Muslim who is unable to emigrate or openly declare their Islam in the lands of disbelief, they will be resurrected according to their intention. Their judgment in the Hereafter will be based on their faith and righteous deeds, not on the place of their death or burial. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "Indeed, bodies are not transported from graves, but whoever outwardly appears to be Muslim yet was a hypocrite, will be on the Day of Resurrection with their likes. And it may be that someone who died as a disbeliever had believed in Allah before their death, so they will be with the believers, even if buried with the disbelievers." As for the effect of angels transporting the dead between graves, there is no basis for it.