Is it permissible to bury the dead at night?

Question

Praise be to Allah.

It is permissible to bury the dead at night, because
Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that “A man died
whom the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to visit (during his
illness). He died at night and they buried him at night, and when morning
came, they informed him (the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)). He said, ‘What kept you
from telling me?’ They said, ‘It was night, and it was dark, and we
did not like to disturb you.’ He went to his grave and prayed for him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim). He did not rebuke them for burying
him at night; rather he rebuked his companions for not telling him about
that until the morning. When they gave him their excuses, he accepted
them.

Abu Dawood narrated that Jaabir said: “Some people saw
a fire in the graveyard, so they went to it, and saw the Messenger of
Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the graveyard, saying,
‘Hand me your companion.’ He was the one who used to raise his voice
in dhikr.” This happened at night, as indicated by the words of Jaabir,
“Some people saw a fire in the graveyard…”

The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was buried at night. Imaam
Ahmad narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said:
“We did not know that the Messenger of Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had been buried until we
heard the sound of the shovels at the end of the night.” Abu Bakr, ‘Uthmaan,
‘Aa’ishah and Ibn Mas’ood were all buried at night.

The reports which indicate that it is makrooh to bury
the dead at night are to be interpreted as referring to cases where
burying a person at night may lead to the prayers for him not being
offered properly, as was stated in the saheeh hadeeth, or his shrouding
not being done properly, and it is easier for those who want to attend
the funeral to do so during the day, and it is easier to bury him properly
and to follow the Sunnah when placing the deceased in the lahd during
the day. This is in cases where it is not essential to hasten
to bury him. Otherwise we should hasten to bury him even if that is
at night.

And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah bless
our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions, and grant them peace.