Q: What is the judgment regarding burying in coffins,
especially when the corpse has been brought from a
distant land and it is feared that the body might have
decayed/decomposed ?
First of all, Muslims must be aware that to transfer a
corpse from one land to another is against the Sunnah;
the Sunnah is for the Muslim to be buried in a graveyard
in the area where he or she died. This is because
transporting the corpse necessarily means delaying its
burial, whereas there are ahaadeeth which command haste
in burial of the corpse and speed in taking the deceased
to the graveyard, with the Prophet's (S) reason that, "If
he was righteous, it is good you are nearing him to; if
he was an unbeliever or wicked, then it is an evil you
are taking off your necks" Hence, he who dies in an area
other than his home should be buried in that area, if
there is a graveyard there. But the problem arises, as is
apparent in the question, when a man dies in a land of
Kufr - in this case, it is fitting that the nearest
(Muslim) graveyard to where he died is sought for burial,
out of necessity. However, for example, and this occurs
often, if a Kuwaiti dies in Egypt, nowadays he is then
taken to Kuwait to be buried - this is not allowed. Or an
Egyptian dies in Syria and is transported for burial,
etc, all this is against what the Prophet (S) taught with
respect to burial of the dead.
As far as the question of burial in a coffin is
concerned, where there is a fear that the body may have
decayed to disintegration such that it cannot be lifted
out of the coffin, then we say: Necessity dictates how
far you go. If the condition of the corpse is known to
the doctors by knowing the time to the minute at which
the body was placed in the coffin, and knowing how long
it takes for the body to decay, as is known by them, and
it is thought that it has most probably disintegrated,
then it can be buried as is (in the coffin), by way of
keeping away from the greater evil with the smaller evil.
However, if it is thought that the body is likely to be
virtually intact, for example if the body was put in ice
as is done medically and transported by air on a half-
hour journey from another country, then it must be taken
out of the coffin and buried. This is because burial of
the body in the coffin is not allowed. for that is the
practice of the Christians and it is not allowed to
imitate them in anything, including burial. The Prophet
(S) said, 'The Lahd is for us, and the Shaaq is for
people other than us." (Saheeh reported by Tirmidhi,
Nasaa'i, Ibn Maajah and Abu Daawood on the authority of
Ibn Abbas (see Talkis Ahkam Al-Janaa'i; p. 62) ) The
Lahd is a niche, the side of the body, in the side of the
wall of the grave, facing the Qiblah, and filled up so
that the earth is put behind the corpse only, and not on
top of it. The Shaqq is a ditch in which the coffin is
placed, and is the practice of the Christians; we are
commanded to differ from the example of the polytheists.
73 Benefits of Zikr- Imam Ibn Qayyim (RA)
Al Imam Ibn Qayyim (RA), a well-known Muhadith (A scholar of traditions), has written an authentic book, 'Al-Waabilus Sayyib', on the virtues o