Buying the Land of a Doubtful Graveyard and Building a House on It

Question

Near a mosque there is a piece of land about which there is no written record, but it is widely known that it was the burial ground of a Muslim family, in which burying the dead was prohibited long ago by government order. Several solid (brick-built) graves still exist in it, and old Muslims say that this mosque too was built later on the land of that same burial ground; indeed, 25–30 years ago they saw graves built in the courtyard of the mosque at that time, which have now become traceless.

Answer

According to general custom, graves are made only in waqf land — whether it is a general waqf, like a paupers’ graveyard, or a specific waqf, as when a particular family endows a plot of land for its graves — although sometimes the contrary also happens. Therefore this plot of land should be deemed a waqf.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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