Burial of Muslim in Muslim Section of Christian Cemetery

13-10-2004 | IslamWeb

Question:

Yesterday a Muslim died and he was buried in Christian cemetery in a special area for the Muslims which is not far from the Christian area and which is in the cemetery and we have accomplish Salat Janaza there and I want to know if we were correct in this act?
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

It is unlawful to bury Muslims in the graveyards of non-Muslims as it is equally unlawful to bury non-Muslims in the graveyards of Muslims.

But if there is no other place to bury him and he cannot be transferred to a Muslim graveyard, and you fear that his corpse might deteriorate, then you should bury him wherever possible. On the other hand, if the graves of Muslims are separated from those of non-Muslims – no matter how close they are to each other’s – then it is lawful to bury Muslims there. But we advise you to do your best to get an independent piece of land away from the non-Muslims' graveyard and use it as a graveyard for Muslims.

Allah knows best.

www.islamweb.net