Fatawa of Sheikh Muhammad bin Hizam Al-Ba'dany

بســـم اللــه الرحــمــن الـرحـــيــم

▪️Advice to the Muslim rulers -may Allāh grant them success- concerning the corpses of those who have died from the epidemic▪️

This is a blessed advice given by our virtuous and blessed Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Hizaam AlBa'daani -may Allah preserve him, protect him and make him a source of benefit for Islam and the Muslims-.

This advice was issued on the first of Shawwaal in the year 1441 A.H.

⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇

All Praises belong to Allāh, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allāh; his family, companions and all his loyal followers. I bear witness that there is no diety worthy of worship except Allāh, alone without any partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

To proceed:

Among the affairs that Allah has enjoined upon us is clarifying the truth to the people, as well as advising the leaders of the Muslims and the laymen.

So based on this, we advise the Muslim rulers -may Allah grant them success- to make it mandatory to treat all the deceased Muslims who have fallen prey to this epidemic in a dignified manner and not to allow any harm to come to them.

The believer is noble in the sight of Allāh -the Exalted and Mighty-. [The Prophet ﷺ said:]

((إن دماءكم وأموالكم وأعراضكم عليكم حرام كحرمة يومكم هذا في شهركم هذا في بلدكم هذا))

"Verily your blood, your property and your honour are as sacred and inviolable as the sanctity of this day of yours, in this month of yours and in this town of yours.”

Even if a Muslim dies due to an epidemic, it's still not allowed to handle them the way the disbelievers handle their deceased; leaving them unwashed and prohibitting people from coming together to pray over them, and only allowing one or two people to pray over them, while preventing his relatives from praying over them!! Doing this is impermissible, even if they died due to the epidemic, as they are able to disinfect the corpse. So they should spray some disinfectant on the corpse in order to kill that which is on it from virus and bacteria. After that, they hand the body over to the family so it can be washed, shrouded and buried in a dignified manner.

As for throwing them into [body] bags and leaving them unwashed and perhaps not even allowing more than one or two people to pray over them, then this is ḥarām. In fact, this is a great offence towards the Muslim.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

((كسر عظم الميت ككسره حياً))

“Breaking the bone of a muslim when he is dead is like breaking it when he is alive." 

So the sanctity of a dead Muslim is the same as when he is alive. And the prophet ﷺ highly magnified and emphasised the rights of the believer. During the farewell pilgrimage, he repeatedly reminded with preserving the rights of the Muslims, when he ﷺ said:

((إن دماءكم وأموالكم وأعراضكم عليكم حرام كحرمة يومكم هذا في شهركم هذا في بلدكم هذا))

"Verily your blood, your property and your honour are as sacred and inviolable as the sanctity of this day of yours, in this month of yours and in this town of yours. Verily! I have conveyed this message to you."

Would any of the Muslim rulers like it if they or any of their relatives were treated in this way after death?? Never will they accept this.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

((ما من رجل مسلم يقوم على جنازته أربعون رجلاً لا يشركون بالله شيئاً إلا شفعهم الله فيه))

“If a Muslim dies and forty men -who do not associate anything with Allāh (in worship)- pray over him, Allāh makes them intercede for him.”

[Reported by Muslim from the ḥadīth of ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās -raḍhiyallāhu ‘anhumā-]

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

((من قامت عليه أمة من الناس يبلغون مائة يصلون عليه إلا غفر له))

"No Muslim dies and has a community of Muslims reaching one hundred pray over him, except that Allāh forgives him.”

And in another wording, he ﷺ said:

((إلا شفعوا فيه))

“except that their intercession for him is accepted.”

Increasing the congregation in the funeral prayer is highly desirable. Hence, the prophet ﷺ censured from burying the dead at night - especially if there isn't a good number to pray over them.

هذا منشور في آداب الطعام لشيخنا الجليل حفظه اللّــــه ورعاه. وهو إجابة عن سؤال وجه إليه في الدرس فحصلت الإجابة على طريق المذاكرة مع طلابه. تولاه الله.

وهذه ترجمته باللغة الفرنسية لأحد إخواننا وفقه الله.

NOTE:

If you want to share a Fatwa that has a link embedded, like the one above, it's best not to copy and paste, otherwise the link will not work. To avoid this, kindly forward on the message as it is.

May Allāh bless you.