Burial Procedure
1) A grave is dug deep enough to totally hide the body of the deceased.
2) The grave should be always perpendicular ( Horizontal) to the direction of Qiblah.
3) Only men are allowed to attend the burial.
4) All Muslims who are present should remember death, the hereafter, and that one day he too will be buried.
5) They should keep quiet ( No talking unless it is necessary ).
6) The deceased�s male relatives are expected to put the body in the grave, putting the body in the grave should be carried out only by Muslim men.
7) A female is placed in her grave either by her husband, her sons, her father, her brothers, or her uncle.
8) The deceased�s body should be entered to the grave from the middle of the grave.
9) Those who enter the body of the deceased in the grave should say :
"Bismilllah wa ala millati rasulilllah" [In the name of Allah and in the faith of the Messenger of Allah]
10) The deceased�s body should rest on his right side, and should be close to the wall and supported so that the body will not fall back, the deceased�s face should be towards the Qiblah.
11) Those who put the deceased in the grave should not have had sexual intercourse with their wives the night before and should be in a state of Tahara.
12) They should undo the ties on the head and the feet.
13) They should put above the body a layer of wood or big stones, so that earth will not be put directly on the body when they fill the grave with earth.
14) After the body is totally covered, it is desirable to throw three handfuls of soil into the grave, with each handful saying:
Minhaa khalaqnaa kum [From the earth did We create you]
Wa feehaa Nu�eedu kum [And into it shall We return you ]
Wa minhaa nukhrijukum taaratan �ukhraa [And from it shall We bring you out once again]
15)Then the grave should be filled up with sand or soil that was taken out from the grave; no additional soil should be brought from elsewhere.
Note:
- It is allowable to put a mark on the grave or a stone to know the grave.
- Just after the burial all Muslims, including the deceased�s relatives, may stay in the cemetery for a while and make dua�( Supplicate ) for the deceased, since he is being questioned by the Angels.
-It is recommended that women and girls do not enter the cemetery and come closer to the grave to
see the burial process.
-It is prohibited to build any form of construction on the grave, or decorate the grave.
-Arranging day of mourning on the third day after death, or on the seventh, or on the twentieth day, or
on the fortieth day, or on the anniversary of the death - all are practices which people have
introduced; there is no authentic Sunnah for doing the same.
-There is no Islamic teaching of revealing the face of the deceased after putting the body in the grave.
-There is no Islamic teaching of shouting special Dhikr (Certain words to remember Allah) before,
during, and after burial.
-There is no Islamic teaching of reading the Quran in the cemetery.
-There is no Islamic teaching of putting flowers, food, water, photograph, money or anything around
the grave that will benefit the deceased.
-There is no Islamic teaching of slaughtering an animal during or after burial.
-There is no Islamic teaching of staying in a state of sadness for one year.
-There is no Islamic teaching that the relatives of the deceased should wear black clothes.
-It is prohibited to cremate the body of dead Muslim, even if the deceased requested it before his
death.
-It is prohibited to put candles on the grave.
-Performing autopsy on a dead Muslim is totally prohibited, unless it is requested by court order.