Building schools in graveyards

Q: We are from Yemen, but we live in Saudi Arabia. Over fourteen years ago, a school was established in Yemen on a land belonging to a cemetery. The school serves the people from our village and the neighboring villages, and it now exceeds its capacity as the enrolment increases every year. A new charitable society has been established in the district to serve the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger and to help the needy as much as possible. To draw nearer to Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He), a benevolent person made a donation to this society to establish an additional class for the school. Another benevolent person donated a piece of land to this society, about 500 meters away from the current school as a Waqf (endowment) for the Sake of Allah. The problem is, if we build a classroom on the new Waqf land, it will be very difficult for the teachers to get to it, and the society can not afford the building costs of another complete school on this land. The school is in dire need of this new class, due to the number of students crowded into the school. My question is: (Part No. 16; Page No. 100) Is it permissible to add the donated class to the school that is already established in the cemetery? Please advise us, may Allah reward you!

A: It is not permissible to use a cemetery to establish a class or anything else. It is obligatory for the cemetery to be fenced off to avoid abusing the graves through any use, because the sanctity of a Muslim remains after death is the same as when alive. The Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade sitting on graves or showing any type of disrespect towards them. Therefore, it is obligatory for the school to be moved to another place where there are no graves. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.