Q. "Secondly,
I see Muslims who save money to buy houses, cars, vacation packages, send
their children to the best colleges, and afford the most elaborate Valimahs
yet when Allah sends his angel of death to retrieve their souls there
is no money in their savings account to pay for their funeral expenses.
In fact most of the Muslims I have spoken to seem to believe it is the
duty of the Ummah to bury its brother or sister or child in Islam. Is
this true? Are we not asked to save for our funeral expenses? "
(Ibid)
A. This is not correct. The Muslims have been advised by the Shari'ah
not to be invoved in any ind of extravagance. More- over, the Holy Prophet
(S.A.W.) has advised the Muslims that instead of spending all their money
in their life-time, they should leave a substantial part of it for their
inheritors, so much so that they cannot make any will for charitable purposes
in excess of 1/3 rd of their property. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) while
explaining this rule of Shari'ah, has observed in the following words
:
"To leave your inheritors well-off is better than leaving them
in proverty looking to the hands of others." (Bukhari)
Therefore, one should never presume that it is the duty of Muslim brothers
to bear the expenses of his burial etc., and he should be spend whatever
he has in his life time. The Muslim people are required to pay the burial
expenses only when a person has died in a state of poverty leaving nothing
behind. But it does not mean that one should exploit this obligation of
the Muslims for his extravagance or his lavish expenditure during his
life time.
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