QUESTION

Would Moulana please clarify and comment on the issue of the burial of Hazrat Moulana Hafeez Makki who passed away today (16 January 2024) in Pietermaritzburg (May Allah reward him with the highest stage in Jannah). Janazah Salaah was performed in Pietermaritzburg but the body has been arranged to be flown to Makkah Mukarramah for burial in the Holy City. This arrangement has appeared strange to many, including some Ulema. Apart from the Islamic imperative in respect of expeditious burial, there is the substantial transportation cost factor of the body, which is clearly wasteful under the circumstances. Would Moulana please elaborate. Is this jaa-iz?

ANSWER

How can the plethora of shaitaaniyat and haraam acts associated with transportation of a body from one country to another ever be jaa-iz (permissible)? Without the need for plunging in the Fiqhi technical issues, the heart of a Mu’min will spontaneously issue the correct fatwa. Rasulullah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: “Seek a fatwa from your heart.”

Allah Ta’ala says in the Qur’aan Majeed: “No person knows in which land he will die.” This event is only in the Knowledge of Allah Azza Wa Jal. Allah Ta’ala had decreed that the honourable Marhoom Maulana who had resided for many decades in Makkah Muazzamah, should die in South Africa. Therefore, he embarked on the flight to South Africa. On reaching South Africa, Malakul Maut arrived to take his soul. Thus, the land Allah Ta’ala had decreed for his death was South Africa. It was therefore Waajib to bury him in the place where he had died.