620. Should The Deceased Be Send Back Home And the Rulings To Put Them In The Grave As Soon As Possible

 By Asma Bint Shameem

The basic principle is that a person is buried wherever he dies and it’s not permissible to move him to another place. 

That’s because we’re supposed to bury the deceased quickly and not wait too long. 

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

“*Hasten* to bury your dead….” 

(al-Bukhaari, 2/87-88)

But if there a valid *reason* to transport the body to another place, then it’s allowed to delay the burial and bury it there. 

The scholars of the Standing Committee said about this issue: 

“The Sunnah at the time of the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam and the time of the Sahaabah was to bury the deceased in the graveyard of the land or city in which he died, and to bury the martyrs where they died. 

It is not proven in any hadeeth or report that any of the Sahaabah was moved to a place other than the graveyard of the land or city in which he died, or to another place nearby. 

Because of that, the majority of fuqaha’ said: it is not permissible to move the deceased before burial to a land other than the one in which he died, unless that is for a valid reason such as the fear that his grave may be violated if he is buried where he died, or that it may be mistreated, in which case he must be moved to a place where his grave will be safe. 

For example, moving him to his homeland so that his family will feel better and will be able to visit his grave is permissible. 

But in such cases that is subject to the condition that there is no fear that the corpse may start to decay because of the delay in burial, and that his sanctity will not be violated. 

If there is no need to move him and these conditions are not met, then it is not permissible to move him.

The Committee believes that every deceased person should be buried in the graveyard of the city in which he dies, and that they should not be moved to another city unless that is for a valid reason, in accordance with the Sunnah and the practice of the salaf or early generations of this ummah, so as to avoid transgressing the rules of sharee’ah, to bury the deceased quickly as encouraged in sharee’ah, to protect the deceased from the procedures that may be done to his body to prevent decay, and to avoid the extravagance of spending large amounts of money unnecessarily and for which there is no legitimate shar’i need, as well as protecting the rights of the heirs and saving this money so that it may be spent in the proper ways.”

(Fataawa Islamiyyah 2/31, 32) 

And Allaah knows best