Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Allah will determine where and when u will die, so say for istance i live in england where my family is, and i go on holiday to bangladesh, my hometown, and i die in bangladesh. what is the right thing to do, get buried in bangladesh or be taken back to england and buried there if i requested.
so basically shall i be buried where i die no matter what the consequences are? or can request my burial on my death bed so to speak

many thanks 

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Answer:

Burial place of dead

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Statement: Allah will determine where and when u will die

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 31 Surah Luqman verse 34: Verily the Knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone). It is He Who sends down rain and He Who knows what is in the wombs. Nor does anyone know what it is that he will earn on the morrow: nor does anyone know in what land he is to die. Verily with Allah is full knowledge and He is acquainted (with all things).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraf verse 34: To every people is a term appointed: when their term is reached not an hour can they cause delay nor (an hour) can they advance (it in anticipation).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 145: Nor can a soul die except by Allah's leave; the term being fixed as by writing.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.594 Narrated by Anas bin Malik

The Prophet (saws) said, "Allah puts an Angel in charge of the uterus and the Angel says, 'O Lord, (it is) semen! O Lord, (it is now ) a clot! O Lord, (it is now) a piece of flesh.' And then, if Allah wishes to complete its creation, the Angel asks, 'O Lord, (will it be) a male or a female? A wretched (an evil doer) or a blessed (doer of good)? How much will his provisions be? What will his age be?' So all that is written while the creature is still in the mother's womb."

Sahih Muslim Hadith6392 Narrated by Hudhayfah ibn Usayd

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘When the drop of (semen) remains in the womb for forty or fifty (days) or forty nights, the Angel comes and says: ‘My Lord, will he be good or evil?’ And both these things would be written. Then the Angel says: ‘My Lord, would he be male or female?’ And both these things are written. And his deeds and actions, his death, his livelihood; these are also recorded. Then his document of destiny is rolled and there is no addition to and subtraction from it!

Without an iota of a doubt, one’s time and place of death (amongst other things) is Decreed and Recorded for every soul before it even comes into existence!

Your Question: say for istance i live in england where my family is, and i go on holiday to bangladesh, my hometown, and i die in bangladesh. what is the right thing to do, get buried in bangladesh or be taken back to england and buried there if i requested.
so basically shall i be buried where i die no matter what the consequences are? or can request my burial on my death bed so to speak

Al-Husayn ibn Wujuh narrated that when Talhah ibn al-Bara fell ill, the Prophet (saws) said: "I see that Talhah is on the verge of death. Inform me about him (when he passes away) and make immediate preparations for his burial, for a Muslim's remains should not be left long with his family after his death."

Related by Abu Dawood.

Ali ibn Abu Talib related that the Prophet (saws) said: "O Ali, never delay three things: prayer when its time approaches, the funeral when death is confirmed, and marrying a widow or a divorcee when a suitable match is found for her."

Related by Ahmad and Tirmidhi.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) guided the believers to bury their deceased brethren as soon as possible. Although there is no specific prohibition in the Quran or the Sunnah regarding the transfer of the deceased to be buried in a place other than the place of its death, the scholars and jurists in Islam have held that it is highly desirable to bury the deceased as soon as possible, and hold it undesirable to transfer the burial to a place other than where the death took place without a genuine or strong reason.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 4.78

Transfering the Body from One Place to Another

The Ash-Shafi'i school considers it unlawful to transfer the body of a deceased from one country or town to another unless it is to Makkah, Madinah or Jerusalem. It is permissible to remove the body to one of these cities because of their special significance and position. If someone leaves instructions in his or her will that he or she be buried in a place other than these three cities, the will may not be executed, because it could delay the burial and cause the body to deteriorate. Likewise transferring the body from one grave to another is prohibited unless there is a valid reason for doing so, for example, if the deceased was buried without a proper wash, or was buried without turning the deceased's face toward the qiblah, or the grave was damaged by flood or dampness.

The Maliki school holds it permissible to remove the body from one place to another, before or after the burial, for a genuine reason, for example, when it is feared that the body of a deceased may be drowned in the sea or eaten up by wild animals, or when relatives want to bury the deceased nearby so that they may visit it more easily, or in order to seek the blessings of the place to which the body is removed. In all such cases, transferring of the body from one place to another is permissible provided its sanctity is not affected, e.g., it does not bloat, does not decompose or its bones do not break.

The Hanafi school considers the removal of a body from one place to another undesirable, and holds it preferable to bury a person at the place of death. The body may be taken for a mile or two for burial, for that is the usual distance to a cemetery. After the burial removing the body without a genuine reason is not permissible as mentioned above. If a woman's son dies and he is buried in her absence in another town, and she was impatient and wanted to remove his body to her own town, her request may not be heeded.

The Hanbali school of thought considers it highly undesirable to transfer the burial of the deceased from one town to another without a valid cause. This is the opinion of AlAwza'i and Ibn al-Mundhir. Abdallah ibn Malikah said: "Abd-ur Rahman ibn Abu Bakr died in Abyssinia and his body was carried to Makkah where he was buried. When 'Aishah visited his grave she said: 'By Allah! Had I been there when you died, I would not have allowed you to be buried anywhere except at the place where you had died. And had I seen you there, I would not have visited you'." Burying the deceased at the place of death is easier and more secure against deterioration of the physical remains. It is permissible, however, to remove the body from one place to another in case there is a valid reason.

Other eminent jurists and scholars are of the opinion that there is no harm in transferring the burial of the deceased from one town to another. Ahmad said: "I do not know of any harm in transferring the deceased from one town to another." When Az-Zuhri was asked about that, he said, "The bodies of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Sa'id ibn Zaid (two amongst the noble companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws)) were removed from Al-Aqiq to Al-Madinah."

The only cases where it is prohibited to bury the deceased in any other place other than their place of death is in the cases of a martyr and of a Prophet of Allah.

Jabir reports that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: 'Bury the martyrs wherever they are killed'.

Related by Bukhari.

The Prophet (saws) ordered that the martyrs of the Battle of Uhud be returned and buried at the places where they had fallen."

Related by Ibn Maajah.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3159 Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah

On the day of Uhud we brought the martyrs to bury them (at another place), but the crier of the Prophet (saws) came and said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (saws) has commanded you to bury the martyrs at the place where they fell.’ So we took them back.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 5963 Narrated by Abu Bakr

When Allah's Messenger (saws) died the people disagreed about his burial, and Abu Bakr said he had heard something from Allah's Messenger. He had said, "Allah takes a Prophet’s life only in the place where he wishes to be buried." So he told them to bury him where his bedding lay.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan