Burial

Burial — concealing the dead in the earth — is a communal obligation by consensus where possible. People have handed it down since Adam with censure of whoever neglects it; the first to perform it was Qabil, shown by the crow how to cover his brother's shame in Sura al-Ma'ida. ^{1 2}

If one dies on a ship far from land, he is washed, shrouded and prayed over, then consigned to the sea weighted to sink; al-Shafi'i said he is weighted if near a shore, in case he reaches people who will bury him. ²

The cemetery is the best place — for following precedent and for the prayers of passers-by; the Prophet ﷺ was buried in his house since prophets are buried where they die. Burial in a dwelling is disliked; the Malikis stated it is disliked in a purpose-built mosque, and the Hanbalis forbid it in mosque, madrasa and ribat. ²

The Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis held exhuming and moving a buried body absolutely impermissible — a later Hanafi licence was rejected by Ibn 'Abidin. Before burial, the Hanafis allowed moving the body without restriction; the majority of Shafi'is and Hanbalis forbade it except for a valid purpose, the position of al-Awza'i and Ibn al-Mundhir. ^{2 3}