You can, but you should not rely on it. Wills are frequently not read until after burial, and Islamic burial happens within a day.
The Canadian position
Funeral directions in a will are generally not binding on the executor in most provinces, and practically they arrive too late to be acted on.
The Islamic position
Ghusl, kafan, salat al-janazah and prompt burial all happen within roughly twenty-four hours. A document opened a week later cannot govern them.
Where the four schools differ
This question turns on one issue in our madhhab register: How soon must a Muslim be buried? — how quickly a Muslim body must be buried, and what may lawfully delay it
Researched positions from our madhhab register — issue burial-timing, reviewed 2026-09-01.
The duty behind all of this is lighter than it is usually described. The Kuwaiti encyclopaedia’s entry Ta’jil records the jurists as agreeing (ittafaqa al-fuqaha’) that hurrying the preparation of the body is recommended (yundab) once death is certain — and names what keeps it from being obligatory: caution for the soul, because a faint can be mistaken for death. Ibn Qudama says the same in the Mughni: there is no disagreement among the imams that hastening the bier is recommended. The proof text both rest on is the Prophet’s “Hurry up with the dead body” (Bukhari 1315), which is an instruction, not a deadline. No school states a 24-hour rule. The words “twenty-four hours” do not occur anywhere in the 45-volume Kuwaiti encyclopaedia, nor in al-Mughni, and in al-Jaziri only in the law of menstruation. On waiting for people, only the Hanafi school is recorded in terms: it is disliked to hold the funeral prayer back so that a bigger congregation can attend, though the burial itself is put off if carrying it out would cause the Friday prayer to be missed. We could not source a Maliki, Shafi’i or Hanbali position on waiting for a relative or a larger congregation, and we do not infer one.
Full positions, evidence and history: How soon must a Muslim be buried? — the issue page.
Related madhhab issue: Ghusl, kafan and salat al-janazah — who performs them?.
What to do about it
- Write burial wishes on a separate one-page document.
- Give copies to your spouse, your executor and your local masjid's funeral coordinator.
- Record whether you have a prepaid arrangement or a cemetery plot.
- Keep the will for the property; keep this for the first day.
This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position. Anything under “further reading” is related material, not a source for what is stated here.
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 55: Wills and Testaments (Wasaya) — Sunnah.com
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Wills — Sunnah.com
- What to do when someone dies — Government of Ontario
- Funeral wishes in will legally binding ontario — Treadstone Law
- Cremation vs burial instructions executor follow ontario — Treadstone Law
- Executor refuses honour funeral wishes remedy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Are funeral expenses paid first insolvent estate ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law