Is it right to level graves after a few years?

Neither the Holy Qur’an nor the traditions address this question explicitly. Still, preserving a grave seems better and more dignified than removing it after a few years.

In some countries there are cemeteries where, after a few years, nothing is left of the graves. Many people wonder whether this is in keeping with Islamic teaching. The honest answer is that neither the Holy Qur’an nor the traditions deal with this detail explicitly.

So there is no clear command to preserve graves permanently. But there is also no known verse or tradition that openly forbids levelling them. Where the sources are silent, one should be careful about declaring something forbidden or obligatory.

Even so, something can be said. Preserving a grave seems better. Removing one, by contrast, does not strike us as a good thing to do. Natural human feeling is against letting the place where a loved one rests disappear after a short time.

This fits the respect that Islam shows to the deceased. The dead are washed, wrapped in clean cloth and buried with prayer. The first verse above speaks of the grave as something God Himself has appointed for human beings. Those left behind visit the place, pray for the deceased and remember them.

Where space is scarce or local circumstances require something else, communities may find other solutions. But the basic attitude remains that a grave is treated with dignity.