Being buried in a masjid

Posted: Jul 8th, 2003
Author: Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (:rahim:)
Source: Majmoo' Fataawa wa Rasa'il - Volume Two, Number 292

The eminent Shaykh was asked: Regarding a man who built a masjid and he willed (in his wasiyyah) that he be buried there. And he was buried there so what can be done now?

The Shaykh answered: This wasiyyah (will), meaning, the wasiyyah that he is buried in a masjid, is incorrect. This is because a masjid is not a maqaabir (graveyard). And it is not permissible to be buried in a masjid. And the carrying out (of the requests) of this wasiyyah is forbidden. And what is obligatory now is to exhume this grave and to transfer it to the graveyard of the Muslimeen.