Burial in an owner’s land without his permission

Question

After Zayd died, [his] heirs or disciples buried Zayd in the land of Bakr (the owner) and in government land without taking permission from Bakr or from the government. A few months later, when Bakr, the owner of the land, or the government learned that Zayd’s body had been buried without government permission, and that a brick-built grave and a dome had also been built for Zayd, do Bakr and the government have the legal right to dig up the grave where Zayd is buried in their land and remove him, with no sin upon…

Answer

In such a case the owner of the land has the option of removing the body or levelling the grave with the ground. If the body has been taken out, ordinary Muslims should bury it in land owned by Zayd or in a general waqf graveyard; so it is in “Majma‘ al-Anhur”, vol. 1, p. 185. Building a brick-built grave and a dome is a sin; so it is in “Sharh al-Kanz”.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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