Burial time

Q: What time should the person who dies before or after midnight be buried? Is it permissible to bury him at night or should he be buried in the morning?

A: It is permissible to bury a dead person at night. This is based on the Hadith narrated by Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) who said: A person whom Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) used to visit died. He died at night and (the people) buried him at night. In the morning they informed the Prophet (peace be upon him) (about his death). He said, "What prevented you from informing me?" They replied, "It was night and it was a dark night and we disliked to trouble you." The Prophet (peace be upon him) went to his grave and offered the (funeral) prayer. Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not reprimand his Sahabah (Companions) for burying the man at night, but was displeased to have been informed of his death only in the morning. When the Sahabah told him that they did not want to disturb him at night, he accepted their apology. Abu Dawud narrated from Jabir who said: The people saw fire (light) in the graveyard and they went there. They found that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was in a grave and he was saying, "Give me your companion." This was a man who used to raise his voice in Dhikr (Remembrance of Allah). This happened during the night as indicated by the words of Jabir: (The people saw (Part No. 8; Page No. 398) fire (light) in the graveyard...). The Prophet himself was buried at night. Imam Ahmad narrated from `Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: We did not know about the burial of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) until we heard the sound of shovels before the end of the night on a Tuesday night. Shovels are tools used for scooping up dust and dirt. Abu Bakr, `Uthman, `Aishah and Ibn Mas`ud were also buried at night. The Sahih (authentic) Hadith which states the undesirability to bury the dead at night is interpreted in the context that if the burial is not well prepared and hastening to bury the dead person affects the proper performance of the Funeral Prayer, then people should delay the burial until the morning. Moreover, it is easier for people to follow a funeral procession in the morning than at night. Proper burial procedures can only be made during the day and the body can be easily laid down in the Lahd (a crevice on the side of a grave facing the direction faced for Prayer). However, if it is necessary to hasten and bury the dead person, then he has to be buried soon even if this were to happen at night.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and Companions.