There is great clamor regarding this from ignorant persons from the aspect
of practical laws and due to heedless from sources of religious verdicts. They
think that this issue is only restricted to Shia, therefore they have leveled
objections against them.
It is concealed from these fellows that the four Ahle Sunnat schools of law
are in agreement with Shia that transferring a corpse from the place the person
has died to another for place for appropriate aim is lawful, whether before or after
burial, whether that person had made a bequest or not.
Malikis say:
“Transferring the corpse before or after burial to another place is lawful
under three conditions: First, that it should not be damaged during transfer.
Secondly, it should not cause disrespect and the corpse should not be carried in a
disrespectful way. Thirdly, transfer should be for some important reason, like for
example that the grave is inundated by water or to shift it to a place where it
would benefit from auspiciousness of that spot or to a place near his family
members, or that his family members may be able to visit the grave. If none of
these conditions is present, shifting is unlawful.”1
Hanbalis say:
“There is no problem in transferring a corpse from one place to another,
upon the condition that this transfer should have a correct objective. For example,
it should have been transferred to holy place or for burial near a devout
personality and with the condition that we may remain safe from the change in
smell of the corpse and there is no difference whether it is shifted before burial or
after that.”2
Shafeis say:
“Transferring a corpse to another place for burial is unlawful and it is said
that it is detestable, except that it should be for proximity to Mecca, Medina,
Baitul Muqaddas or grave of a holy personage. If the deceased makes a bequest to be transferred to one of these places, it should be carried out. Although if we
are assured that the corpse would not disintegrate and Mecca implies the whole
sanctuary and not the city.”3
Hanafis say:
“It is recommended that the corpse should be buried in the city the death has
occurred and there is no problem in transferring from one city to another if we are
assured security from stench. But after the burial exhumation, is unlawful, except
that the ground where the burial took place is unlawful or after the burial,
someone else became the owner of that place through partnership.”4
Conclusion
This act was lawful in the previous Shariats. Adam (a.s.) passed away in
Mecca and was buried in the cave of Abu Qubais. Then Nuh (a.s.) placed his
coffin on the Ark and when he disembarked, he buried it in Baitul Muqaddas.5 It
is mentioned in Shia traditional reports that he buried him in Najaf Ashraf. Yaqub
(a.s.) passed away in Egypt and was buried in Shaam.6
Moosa transferred the coffin of Yusuf (a.s.) after he was buried in Egypt to
Palestine, where his ancestors were buried.7
Yusuf (a.s.) transferred the coffin of his father, Yaqub (a.s.) from Egypt and
buried it in Hebron in a cave prepared for his family.8
Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (a.s.) transferred the remains of their holy
father from Kufa to the present dome of His Eminence (a.s.) in Najaf Ashraf and
this was before the burial of His Eminence; though it is mentioned in Dalailun
Nubuwwah9 that:
“The first of those, whose grave was transferred, was Ali Ibne Abi Talib
(a.s.). He was attacked on Friday, 19th Ramadhan and he passed away two days
later and his son, Imam Hasan (a.s.) prayed his funeral prayer and he was buried
in Darul Imarah and his grave was concealed.”
It was then transferred to place called Najaf. Harun Rashid discovered it and
constructed a building over it; and he did this when he observed that animals
were attracted to that place and sought refuge from his hunting dogs there. When
he inquired about this phenomenon from natives of that village, an aged man told
him that it was the grave of Ameerul Momineen Ali (a.s.) and Nuh (a.s.).10
In Al-Ghadeer, Allamah Amini has mentioned the last remains, which were
shifted from the original place of their burials in two topics:
1. Corpses that were shifted before burial.
2. Corpses that were exhumed and transferred to another grave.11
He has ended the discussion with the following verse:
مِنْهُم مَّن قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُم مَّن لَّمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ
“There are some of them that We have mentioned to you and there are others whom We have not mentioned to you.”12