Can Land With Old Graves On It Be Used For Other Purposes?

Question: Asslamu ‘alaykum.  I have recently secured planning permission to convert a small warehouse into two flats. There is a small piece of land outside the warehouse that I plan to use as garden. There are currently 3 or 4 headstones within that land. I believe this land was used as burial ground some 100 years ago. I plan to remove the headstones and tidy up the land. My query is:

1. Is it ok to remove the headstones?
2. Is it ok to allow the land to be used as garden since the burials happened so long ago?

Answer:

Wa ‘alaykum assalam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.

I pray you are well.

Yes, in situations where the buried body will certainly have decomposed it is permissible to use the ground for other purposes. One can plant things there and build something if needed. [Zayla’i, Tabyin al Haqa’iq, Shurunbulali, Imdad al-Fattah]

In this situation removing the gravestones will be permissible, and so will converting the plot to a garden. Be sure to dispose of the gravestones according to any local government regulations, if any.

May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 where, for 18 months, he studied with many erudite scholars. In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years in Sacred Law (fiqh), legal theory (Usul al-fiqh), theology, hadith methodology, hadith commentary, and Logic. He was also given licenses of mastery in the science of Quranic recital and he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Quranic sciences, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and Arabic eloquence.