Transporting a body to another country

(Part No. 8; Page No. 449) Transporting a body to another country Fatwa no. 4332 Praise be to Allah Alone and may peace and blessings be upon Allah's Messenger, his family and Companions. To continue:The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has read the inquiry number 2144 registered in the Research Department and submitted on 27/12/1401 AH by the ministry of interior to His Eminence the general president of the Committee. The inquiry is as follows:31/1613/1. Very Urgent. His Excellency undersecretary of Health Ministry in Riyadh. Greetings are extended to His Excellency the cabinet minister. Greetings are also extended to the interior ministry for administrative affairs. Greetings are also extended to the principality of Makkah district. Greetings are extended to the general presidency of administrations of Scholarly Research, Ifta, Da`wah and Guidance in Riyadh. The Indonesian Ministry in Jeddah sent us a letter in which the Indonesian government requests the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to endorse the transportation of the corpse of the late Bung Tomo Sutomo whose grave is located in `Arafah to Indonesia. He died there and was buried on the ninth of Dhulhijjah 1401 AH. The reason being that the dead man used to be one of the patriot leaders in Indonesia and his family has a persistent desire to bury his body in his homeland. This request contradicts the teachings of the upright Shari`ah of Islam which obligates preserving the dignity of the dead and prohibits the exhumation of graves. In addition, such a procedure would violate the health instructions issued by WHO (World Health Organization) (Part No. 8; Page No. 450) and would also violate the rules of public sanitation. Thus, we hope that you will guide us towards the correct solution as soon as possible. A copy of this telegram has been sent to the general presidency of administrations of Scholarly Research, Ifta, Da`wah and Guidance.

The Permanent Committee's reply came as follows: If the reality is as mentioned above, it is not permissible to exhume the grave of the said dead person so that his body may be sent to his birthplace in Indonesia. The reason is that the body of the dead should be preserved from harm and treated with due respect. Neither the Prophet (peace be upon him) nor any of his Sahabah (Companions) are reported to have done such an act. The reasons provided in the inquiry are not considered valid excuses to permit the transportation of the body.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and Companions.