Are There Any Muslim Burial Sites in Switzerland?
Answered by Shaykh Jamir Meah
Question: Assalamu alaykum
Is there any muslims graveyard in switzerland ?
I live in an area where there is no mosque and no muslim graveyard.
Answer: Wa’alaykum assalam. May Allah reward you for reflecting on these important situations.
I am not overly familiar with Switzerland, but a Google search shows that there are Muslim cemeteries in Switzerland. Limited Muslim burial sections seem to be found in Witikon and Winterthur cemeteries in Zurich, and a large Muslim only burial cemetery in Lausanne.
Lausanne is approximately 266km from Zurich (2.5 hours by car), and if this is the only Muslim cemetery in Switzerland with available plots, then it would be permissible to transport the body there and perform the burial, as long as the body has not started to change.
In regards the funeral prayer, there are Muslims in Switzerland and mosques who can fulfil this obligation. The funeral prayer is a communal obligation and can be fulfilled by just one person, irrespective of whether they are a male, female, adult, or even a discerning child. At the bare minimum, the Muslims workers at the burial site or even your wife can perform it.
[Tuhfat al Muhtaj]
Muslim Minorities
Given the fact that there are pockets of Muslims and mosques in and around Switzerland, and that the Muslims in Switzerland are best placed to know the laws and customs of the land, the Muslim communities there, including your Imams and local scholars, should liaise with the relevant government organisations and explore the possibilities of more land to be designated as Muslim cemeteries.
Warmest salams,
[Shaykh] Jamir Meah
Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. In 2007, he traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years studying the Islamic sciences on a one-to-one basis under the foremost scholars of the Ribaat, Tarim, with a main specialization and focus on Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies in a range of Islamic sciences, as well as teaching. Jamir is a qualified homeopath.
