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Exhuming graves (nabsh)

النَّبْش (نبش القبور)

To dig up is to bring out what is buried and expose what is hidden. Exhuming a grave before decay without need is forbidden by agreement, since it violates the dead person's sanctity. Exhumation is allowed for a necessity or a lawful purpose. If property of value falls into a grave, the Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis allow digging it up, though they differ on whether it is compulsory and on whether the body must be undecayed. If the dead swallowed another's property, the views range from paying from the estate to cutting open the body. The grave may be opened for a usurped shroud, with conditions. A grave dug in usurped land may be opened on the owner's claim. Exhumation for moving the dead is forbidden by most jurists, while the Hanbalis allow it in some cases. Digging a grave for another burial is forbidden to the Malikis and Hanbalis until the first has decayed. The Hanafis and Hanbalis allow digging up the graves of unbelievers for property in them. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Health, body and death

Summary

To dig up is to bring out what is buried and expose what is hidden. Exhuming a grave before decay without need is forbidden by agreement, since it violates the dead person's sanctity. Exhumation is allowed for a necessity or a lawful purpose. If property of value falls into a grave, the Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis allow digging it up, though they differ on whether it is compulsory and on whether the body must be undecayed. If the dead swallowed another's property, the views range from paying from the estate to cutting open the body. The grave may be opened for a usurped shroud, with conditions. A grave dug in usurped land may be opened on the owner's claim. Exhumation for moving the dead is forbidden by most jurists, while the Hanbalis allow it in some cases. Digging a grave for another burial is forbidden to the Malikis and Hanbalis until the first has decayed. The Hanafis and Hanbalis allow digging up the graves of unbelievers for property in them. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

People and things also explored

Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation· Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· Grief and worry (al-huzn)· The clot stage of the embryo (alaqa) and the rulings on its loss· Alya (the rump, and its rulings)· Anf (the nose, and its rulings in purification, prayer, fasting and retaliation)· Anthayan (the two testicles, and rulings on them)· Reason as the basis of legal capacity and of the blood-money (aql)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15446
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15447
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15448
  4. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15449
  5. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15450
  6. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15451
  7. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15452
  8. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15453
  9. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15454
  10. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15455
  11. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15456
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Exhuming graves (nabsh)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/nabsh/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation

In the lexicon, adhm is the bone that has flesh on it, plural 'idham and 'izam. Most jurists hold that a human bone is pure, whether living or dead, of a Muslim or not; that a fish bone stays pure after death; and that the bone of a lawfully slaughtered edible animal is pure and may be used. The bone of carrion, or of a non-edible animal, is impure according to the Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis and Ishaq, and cannot be purified; the Hanafis hold it pure, and 'Umar disliked oiling in ivory. On cleansing after excretion with a bone, the Shafi'is and Hanbalis forbid it; the Hanafis dislike it as forbidden but accept that it suffices; the Malikis forbid a carrion bone and allow a pure bone with disapproval. Most jurists allow retaliation for a bone only at a joint, since equality cannot be achieved elsewhere.