Abdo Gamal
Many Egyptians resorted to building multi-storey cemeteries to bury their dead, especially in light of the Corona epidemic, which may result in a number of dead people in one family simultaneously, which sparked a state of controversy.
During the live broadcast service that the house provides daily to answer the public’s questions, one of the fatwa seekers asked about the permissibility of erecting a multi-storey grave or a second floor over the grave in which the dead are actually buried. In the original tomb they still exist and it is not possible to collect their bones.
For his part, the Secretary of Fatwa at the Egyptian Fatwa House, Ali Fakhr, revealed to "sada elYoum" website that the house is constantly receiving questions asking for fatwas about the permissibility of building multi-storey tombs, especially in the recent period.
Fakhr said that "it is permissible to build a second cemetery over the first cemetery in case of distress, provided that a lot of dirt is placed, to absorb moisture.
The Secretary of the Fatwa at the Egyptian Dar Al-Iftaa added that “it is better in this matter to say that it is permissible and it is not permissible, both of which are correct between the cases of spaciousness and narrowness, meaning that if the situation has capacity and choice, then a second floor for the cemetery should not be built.”
At the same time, he said, “If the graves are filled with corpses, they must be buried in other graves, because it is not permissible to combine more than one dead in one grave except for necessity, and the dead must be separated by a barrier even if they are of the same sex.”
And he stressed that “if there is a necessity, it is possible to make floors inside the same grave if possible, or to cover the old dead with a vault of bricks or stones that do not touch his body. Except in the case of necessity that has no alternative, provided that one is treated with dignity and respect with the dead or what is left of them, because the sanctity of the dead is the same as the sanctity of the living.
It should be noted that in the recent period, many Egyptians resorted to building multi-storey cemeteries to bury their dead, especially in light of the Corona epidemic, which may result in a number of dead people in one family simultaneously, as well as the permanent reason which is the narrowness of the populated space, and the increase in population numbers .
An official at Al-Hamad Real Estate Company specialized in building and selling cemeteries in Greater Cairo and Alexandria, Ahmed Ramadan, revealed the high prices and cost of building cemeteries, and the suffering of most regions in the Republic from the lack of spaces designated for building cemeteries.
Ramadan told “sada elYoum” website that the price of a cemetery area of 20 meters, for example, in the city of May 15, on the outskirts of Cairo, amounted to 100,000 pounds.
watabae 'ana sier almaqbarat al40 mutra, alati tatahamal dafn 4 juthath wasal fi 'atraf alqahirat 'iilaa 'akthar min 200 'alf junayh wahu al'amr aladhi dafae kula man ladayh muqbaratan 'iilaa altafkir fi bina' tabiq than biha fi zili alzuruf alhaliiti.
He added that the price of the 40-meter cemetery, which can withstand the burial of 4 bodies, reached more than 200,000 pounds on the outskirts of Cairo, which prompted everyone who has a cemetery to think about building a second floor in it under the current circumstances.