Question
What is the Shariah ruling about who is responsible for the maintenance of the graves of our loved ones. In the cemetery near us, there are non-Muslim males who have spades, etc. and they maintain the graves. When a person goes to the grave of their loved one, these men come to you and start cleaning the grave, digging up and shaping it etc. The person doing this is a non-Muslim whilst we stand there and make Dua. We often pay these chaps. Sometimes they are smelling of alcohol. They also at times fill the graves of deceased Muslims because the Muslim men struggle to fill the graves these days. Kindly advise us if what we are doing is correct or are we burdening our deceased loved ones.
Answer
What you are doing is wrong and not permissible. Relatives of the deceased should maintain the graves. It is not permissible to hire non- Muslims to fill the graves of the deceased. These people are najis and are always in the state of janaabat. Their presence in the vicinity of the quboor is abhorrent and distressing for the amwaat. Only Muslims should fill the graves.
- Source
- themajlis.co.za
- Published in
- The Majlis Vol 25 No 01
- PDF page
- 4
Verbatim verified against the source PDF
Appears under MOCK-BAATIL-BID’AH ‘ITIKAAF’. This heading is the nearest headline at or before the page and is approximate. Do not cite it alone.