Burying a Person without Performing the Janaazah Salaah

Q: Janaa'iz-108: A Muslim in our area had a newborn son who passed away immediately after being born. Without informing anyone, he buried the child without performing the Janaazah salaah. When people found out about this a few days later, they performed the Janaazah salaah at the graveside. Is this Janaazah salaah valid?

Answer: An act such as the one stated in the question should be carried out only after consulting a reliable Aalim or Mufti. The ruling however states that the Janaazah salaah is permissible only before the body starts to decay. It may not be performed when the body has begun to decay. There is no fixed time period in which the body decays because this depends on the size of the deceased. the season and the ground. It may occur in some places after three days, after ten days in other instances and even after a month at times, dependable Muslims with experience in this field are to be consulted in individual cases. And Allaah knows best what is most correct.

Fatawa Rahimiyyah vol.3