Impact of covid-19 on the Islamic law of burial: An evaluation in perspective of Shariah objectives and Islamic legal Maxims

Abstract

This research paper aims to study and evaluate Islamic law of burial in context of  death by epidemic (covid-19). Pandemic covid-19 brings impact to all aspects of  human life, including in Islamic Fiqh. Therefore, Islamic fiqh continues to develop  along with the development of the dynamics of community life and the problems of  the age that surrounds it. As the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths  continues to rise across all regions of the world. Every culture and community has  its own set of rituals to help ease the pain. Under Islamic law, as in many cultures  and religions, the management of dead bodies is the object of specific rules that aim  at ensuring the dignity and respect of the dead as well as for their living relatives.  The nature and sheer scale of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,  however, has created a number of questions, challenges and even rumors in Muslim majority states as well as for Muslim communities around the world. In handling the  remains of COVID-19 victims, whether in Muslim or non-Muslim majority states,  Islamic rules developed by Muslim jurists and Islamic authorities must be guided by  two considerations: First, the lives of body handlers and rest of the community must  not be endangered. The protection of life (Hifẓ al-nafs) is the first of the five ultimate  objectives of Islamic law (maqāṣid al-sharīʻah)Second, according to Islamic burial  rituals, the dignity of the dead and the emotions of their loved ones are to be  respected as much as is practically possible in extraordinary situations such as  armed conflicts, epidemics, disasters or other catastrophes. This pragmatic  approach is characteristic of Islamic law, as evidenced in the Islamic legal  maxims pertinent to the COVID-19 pandemic: For example “al-ḍarar yuzāl”( Harm  must be removed), and “Al-Mashaqqah tajlib al-taysīr”( Hardship begets ease)  etc.This paper finds the impact of pandemic(covid-19) on law of burial in  perspective of objectives of Islamic sharīʻah and Islamic Legal maxim.