Digging open a grave and exhuming the deceased for a post-mortem

Question

(1) In cases of poisoning and the like, is it prohibited by the Sacred Law to exhume a body after it has been buried for the purpose of a post-mortem? A post-mortem of the body provides one means of proof in such cases. (2) If so, is it obligatory (wajib) on Muslims to prevent the police from exhuming the body and to take protest action against it, even if in this connection, for resistance(?), they come within the reach of government employees? (3)

Answer

(1) After burial it is not correct or permissible in the Sacred Law to dig open the grave and remove the body for the stated purpose. Cutting open the body is also not permissible. Poisoning can be proven by the culprit’s confession or by means of witnesses; proof obtained by means of a post-mortem is not a proof of the Sacred Law, and there is no right to declare anyone…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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