A recent order issued by Riyadh’s Deputy Gov. Prince Muhammad bin Saad has eased the rules and regulations for the burial of the dead of expatriates, especially non-Muslims, said Ali Abdullah Bawazir, head of the Forensic Medicine Department in Riyadh.
In accordance with Prince Muhammad’s order, expatriates now only need to obtain approval of the police department to complete procedures for burial. “This will help the Forensic Medicine Department to speed up the procedures of burial and deportation and reduce the time of body preservation in mortuaries,” Bawazir said.
“The decision will ease the process for the relatives of the dead and their sponsors in preparing papers for the burial or deportation of bodies,” he said.
He explained that mortuaries of hospitals in the Riyadh region retain the bodies until they are buried or deported to their native countries, pointing out that the committee for burial and deportation of dead bodies in the Riyadh region plays a prominent role in overcoming the difficulties associated with burial.
“If deportation is not possible due to family refusal or the death of the sponsor, the body of non-Muslim expatriates is buried in a cemetery designated for that purpose,” said one official at the department for special rights in the Riyadh Mayoralty, who requested anonymity.
The source noted that the burial of non-Muslims is undertaken in the Kingdom in cases of failure in informing the family back home or finding no claimants for the body, or in the case of death sentence.
He said air cargo authorities do not transport a body without knowing the identity of the recipient.
The source declined to mention or locate the cemetery for the burial of non-Muslims, explaining that the mayoralty, in collaboration with official departments, has provided a piece of land in the Saudi capital for the burial of non-Muslims.
“Fetuses with incomplete growth and non-deportable bodies are also buried in the same cemetery,” he added.
Speaking about the legality of burying bodies of non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdullah bin Muneeh, a member of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars, said the government has the discretionary power to take decisions on such matters.
“Bodies can be buried in the Kingdom if there are bilateral agreements between Saudi Arabia and other countries on burials,” he pointed out. He cited a hadith of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) saying: “Two religions shall not meet in my Peninsula whether dead or alive,” while referring to the ban on burial of non-Muslim bodies.
There are a number of prerequisites for the deportation of deceased expatriates in Saudi Arabia, which include filling out a deportation form from police, gaining the approval of the embassy, acquiring a death certificate, confirming the identity of the deceased and paying a fee of SR 3,000 toward the cost of the coffin, embalming and freight, which varies according to the weight and size of deceased.
If the deceased was a worker in Saudi Arabia, the sponsor is to bear all costs of deportation to his home base.
Burial of non-Muslims made easy
