Endowment: Burial on Endowed Land and Validity of Compensation

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Endowment: Burial on Endowed Land and Validity of Compensation

English:

Question #2063:

A few months ago, the dead body of a cleric was buried in endowed land. This was done with the permission of the endowers. Someone has come forward, claiming that the burial was not permissible in the land. What is your view on the matter? Supposing that the claimant was right, would paying money in compensation for using the land for burial solve the problem?

Answer #2063:

There is no problem in that provided that the burial of the dead body in the endowed land does not contravene the purpose of the endowment. Conversely, it is not permissible. In the latter case, if a dead body is buried there, they should exhume it to be buried somewhere else before it is decomposed unless exhumation is unbearably difficult or violates the sanctity of the dead believer. In any case, paying money or compensating for the land in kind would not change this ruling.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Endowments