Ruling on Burying the Deceased in a Coffin (
Source: Fatāwā Amunpūrī by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpūrī
❖ Question
Is it permissible to bury the deceased in a coffin (tabūt)?
❖ Answer
Burying a deceased in a coffin or box is not permissible without necessity. If people begin burying their dead in coffins habitually, it becomes a bidʿah (innovation), since there is no basis for it in the Qur’an or Sunnah. Neither in the time of the Prophet ﷺ, nor during the era of the Ṣaḥābah or Tābiʿīn was anyone buried in a coffin.
However, if there is a legitimate necessity, such as:
- the body being decomposed,
- burned or severely damaged,
- transferred from another country and cannot be handled outside the coffin,
then burial with the coffin is allowed, because removing it would cause harm or difficulty.
Note: Using a coffin as a form of honor or respect for the deceased is not permissible, as this constitutes an un-Islamic glorification.❖ Scholarly Statements
◈ Imām al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204H):
((لست أحب هذا))
“I do not like this (burying in a coffin).”
— al-Umm 1/313
◈ Ibn Hubayrah (d. 560H):
((اتفقوا على أن الدفن فى التابوت لا يستحب لا للرجال ولا للنساء))
“The scholars agreed that burial in a coffin is not recommended for either men or women.”
— Ikhtilāf al-Aʾimmah al-ʿUlamāʾ 1/185
◈ Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī (d. 620H):
((لا يستحب الدفن فى تابوت؛ لأنه لم ينقل عن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا أصحابه …))
“It is not recommended to bury in a coffin, because it was not transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ or his Companions, and it resembles the worldly people.”
— al-Mughnī 2/376
◈ Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ (d. 643H):
((الدفن فى التابوت وهو مبتدع منهي عنه))
“Burial in a coffin is an innovation and prohibited.”
— Fatāwā Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ 1/260
◈ al-Nawawī (d. 676H):
((هذا الذى ذكرناه من كراهة التابوت مذهبنا ومذهب العلماء كافة وأظنه إجماعا))
“What we mentioned regarding the disliked nature of the coffin is our view and the view of all scholars. I believe it is consensus.”
— al-Majmūʿ 5/288
◈ al-Sharnbalālī (d. 977H):
((يكره دفنه فى تابوت بالإجماع، لأنه بدعة))
“Burying in a coffin is disliked by consensus, because it is a bidʿah.”
— Mughnī al-Muḥtāj 2/53
Conclusion
- Without necessity: Burial in a coffin is makrūh and considered a bidʿah.
- With necessity: It is permissible (e.g., in cases of body damage or transfer).
- As a form of respect: Prohibited, since it is an un-Islamic innovation.
