Cemeteries cleared for redevelopment, but Fatwa Council says it is not permissible

The Supreme Council for Fatwa ruled on Thursday that it is not permissible to dig up graves and move human remains, after some of the old cemeteries in the populous Male’ City were cleared for development as parking areas, public parks and sports facilities.

The fatwa comes with redevelopment works in progress at both the Maafannu Cemetery and the Galolhu Cemetery. The Maafannu Cemetery was cleared this year and is being developed as a parking zone and a basketball court. Meanwhile, part of the Galolhu Cemetery has also been cleared for redevelopment.

Part of the Maafannu Cemetery had been cleared and redeveloped as a parking zone back during former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration, when incumbent president Dr. Mohamed Muizzu served as housing minister.

In a fatwa issued on Thursday morning, the Supreme Council for Fatwa, citing hadith and other evidence, said that digging up graves and moving human remains violates the dignity of human beings, which Muslims are required to uphold not just for the living, but also the dead.

The council decided that it is therefore not permissible to clear Muslim burial grounds for redevelopment as public parks or sports arenas.