How Should the Burial of a Christian Mother Be Carried Out?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Question:
If the mother is a Christian, should her shrouding and burial be done according to the Christian method or the Islamic method?
Answer:
Anyone who dies upon disbelief is not to be shrouded and buried like Muslims. If a close relative who is a disbeliever passes away, he should simply be wrapped in a cloth and buried. He is not to be given a ritual bath, not to be shrouded in the Muslim way, not to be buried in a Muslim graveyard, nor facing the Qiblah. Rather, a pit should be dug, and the body concealed therein. After burying a polytheist or disbeliever, it is recommended (mustaḥabb) to perform ghusl.
❀ Al-Khalīfah al-Rāshid, Sayyidunā ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه narrates:
When my father passed away, I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: “Your uncle has died.” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Go and bury him.” I said: “He died upon shirk.” The Prophet ﷺ again said: “Go and bury him.” When I completed the burial and returned, the Prophet ﷺ instructed me to perform ghusl.
(Musnad Abī Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī, p. 19, ḥadīth 120, with a connected ḥasan chain)
❀ In another narration:
I said: “Your uncle or my father has passed away.” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Go and bury him.” I said: “He died upon shirk.” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Go and bury him.” I buried him, then came back to the Prophet ﷺ, and he said: “Go and perform ghusl.”
(Musnad Aḥmad 1/97; Sunan Abī Dāwūd 3214; Sunan al-Nasā’ī 190, 2008 – with a ḥasan chain)
This narration has been authenticated by Imām Ibn Khuzaymah رحمه الله (d. 311 AH) (as mentioned in al-Iṣābah of Ibn Ḥajar 7/114) and Imām Ibn Jārūd رحمه الله (d. 307 AH) (ḥadīth 550).
