Rulings regarding burial of Christian parents Fatwa No: 81585
- Fatwa Date:3-12-1999
I am a convert to Islam. Are there any Islamic rulings regarding the burial of parents who are Christians?
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alyhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
As for the burial of non-Muslim parents (i.e., Christians, Jews or others), it falls into two different categories.
In the first situation, there is somebody from their religion to bury them, and so their Muslim son should not interfere in this process. He should leave their corpses with the people of their religion. He should not participate in their funeral ceremony. Allaah Says: {And never pray for any of them who dies, nor stand on his grave. Certainly, they disbelieved in Allaah and His Messenger and died while they were disobedient.}[Quran 9:84]
In the second situation, there is nobody to carry out the burial. The Muslim son should then bury the corpses of his parents but not following the Islamic rites nor burying them in Muslim graves. Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam , said to Ali Ibn Abu-Taalib when he informed him that his father (Abu Taalib) had died: “Go and bury him.” [Al-Musnad and As-Sunan]
Allaah Knows best.