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What is the Shar῾ī ruling on despicable crimes such as raping dead women and eating their flesh?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Darulfiqh.com

Recently in Pakistan there had been two incidents which I can say were the worst ever example of inhumanity I have ever heard of.

    1. The bodies of dead women buried in their graves were raped after their burial.
    2. Cooking and eating the flesh if the dead bodies that were pulled out of their graves.  As both of the incidents prove that graves are not safe and there is an extreme threat to the new bodies laid to rest.

I would like to ask:

  1. What punishment does Sharī῾ah suggest to a person who raped multiple (50+) dead women bodies in their graves?
  2. What punishment does Sharī῾ah suggest to a person who cooked and ate many dead bodies out of their graves?
  3. Today when such incidents are happening, does Sharī῾ah allow to concrete the graves?
  4. Do these types of acts have any effect on the deceased? Do they suffer pain?

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

 The despicable actions made reference to in the question are shocking and sickening.  No sane sound human being can even comprehend such acts.  Such actions are inconceivable and beyond belief.   One can now understand why there are so many global catastrophes striking the Muslim ummah.

The punishment of a person who rapes a dead woman and eats the flesh of a corpse will be at the discretion of the judge in an Islamic state.[i]  Whatever the punishment maybe, it will be a deterrent and a stark warning for all.  In the absence of an Islamic judiciary, such a person must be reported to the authorities and convicted for this horrendous deed.  Such a person is a liability to the whole community.  Today he desecrated the sanctity of the dead; tomorrow he will attack the living.

It is impermissible to build any type of structure or brick work on top of a grave.  However, if there is a strong possibility of desecration to the graves and a potential threat, then there is a leeway to do some brick work for protection purposes, provided other methods of security are unavailable.[ii]

The Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam said,

“To break the bone of a deceased person is similar to breaking the bone of a living person.” [iii]

Based on the above hadīth, a group of scholars are of the opinion that a dead person also experiences pain caused by mishandling his body.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best,

Mufti Faraz ibn Adam al-Mahmudi



[i] وفي بدائع الصنائع

وَكَذَا وَطْءُ الْمَرْأَةِ الْمَيِّتَةِ لَا يُوجِبُ الْحَدَّ وَيُوجِبُ التَّعْزِيرَ؛ لِعَدَمِ وَطْءِ الْمَرْأَةِ الْحَيَّةِ.(ج 7 ص 34 دار الكتب العلمية)

وفي تبيين الحقائق

(قَوْلُهُ لَا يَجِبُ الْحَدُّ بِوَطْءِ بَهِيمَةٍ) أَيْ وَكَذَا إذَا زَنَى بِمَيْتَةٍ. (مكتبة إمدادية ج 3 ص 171)

وفي لسان الحكام لابن الشِّحْنَة الثقفي الحلبي

رجل زنى بِامْرَأَة ميتَة لَا حد عَلَيْهِ وَعَلِيهِ التَّعْزِير لما روى أَن بهْلُول النباش فعل ذَلِك على عهد رَسُول الله صلى الله عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام فَلم يقم عَلَيْهِ الْحَد وَنزل فِيهِ قَوْله تَعَالَى {وَالَّذين إِذا فعلوا فَاحِشَة} الْآيَة وَقبلت تَوْبَته من غير حد(ص 398 البابي الحلبي)

وفي الفتاوى الهندية

رَجُلٌ زَنَى بِامْرَأَةٍ مَيِّتَةٍ اخْتَلَفُوا فيه قال أَهْلُ الْمَدِينَةِ حُدَّ وقال أَهْلُ الْبَصْرَةِ يُعَزَّرُ وَلَا يُحَدُّ وقال الْفَقِيهُ أبو اللَّيْثِ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى وَبِهِ نَأْخُذُ (ج 2 ص 150 مكتبة رشيدية)

[ii]  وكذا في أحسن الفتاوى ج 4 ص 199 أيج ايم سعيد

[iii] وفي مرقاة المفاتيح

(وَعَنْ عَائِشَةَ: أَنَّ رَسُولَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: قَالَ ” «كَسْرُ عَظْمِ الْمَيِّتِ كَكَسْرِهِ حَيًّا» ” يَعْنِي فِي الْإِثْمِ كَمَا فِي رِوَايَةٍ. قَالَ الطِّيبِيُّ: إِشَارَةٌ إِلَى أَنَّهُ لَا يُهَانُ مَيِّتًا، كَمَا لَا يُهَانُ حَيًّا. قَالَ ابْنُ الْمَلَكِ: وَإِلَى أَنَّ الْمَيِّتَ يَتَأَلَّمُ. قَالَ ابْنُ حَجَرٍ: وَمِنْ لَازَمِهِ أَنَّهُ يَسْتَلِذُّ بِمَا يَسْتَلِذُّ بِهِ الْحَيُّ اهـ.  ( ج 3 ص 1226 دار الفكر)

This answer was collected from DarulFiqh.com, which is operated under the supervision of Mufti Faraz ibn Adam al-Mahmudi, the student of world renowned Mufti Ebrahim Desai (Hafizahullah).

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