Can a Muslim grave be moved, or the body exhumed?

In more detail

• Jābir and his father

  Jābir’s father was killed at Uḥud and buried with another man. Jābir was not at ease leaving him so; after six months he took him out and buried him in a separate grave, and the body was as on the day of burial, apart from a little near the ear.

  Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1351 · Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1352 (chapter: can the dead body be taken out of the grave for a reason)

• SchoolḤanafī

  Once earth has been poured over the body it is not taken out, except for another person’s right, such as land taken without right or property left in the grave. Moving a body after burial is not allowed at all; the scholars agreed that a mother far away who wanted her son’s body moved to her could not do it.

  Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār, with al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥanafī), 2:238–239

• SchoolMālikī

  Moving the dead, before or after burial, is allowed on three conditions: the body will not burst, its dignity is kept, and there is a benefit, such as burial among the family or nearness so the family can visit. If any condition fails, it is forbidden.

  Al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 1:421

• SchoolShāfiʿī

  Opening a grave without a lawful reason is not allowed, by agreement of the school; lawful reasons include land taken without right, a valuable fallen in, or burial without washing or away from the qiblah while the body is unchanged. If floodwater or damp reaches the grave, al-Nawawī judges moving the body allowed, citing Jābir.

  Al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ (Shāfiʿī), 5:299–300 and 5:303

• SchoolḤanbalī

  Asked about taking a body out of its grave to another, Aḥmad said: if something is harming it; Ṭalḥah and ʿĀʾishah were moved. He saw no harm in moving people buried in gardens and poor places. A body that has changed is not exhumed.

  Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī, with the other schools), 2:381 and 2:412–413

• US law

  Each state sets its own rules. In California, for example, remains may be removed from a cemetery only on a written order of the health department or the superior court, with the cemetery’s consent and the written consent of the surviving spouse, or else the children, parents or siblings in that order. Ask the cemetery and your county health department.

  California Health and Safety Code § 7500 · California Health and Safety Code § 7525