Is it permissible to buy land so that he may be buried in it when he dies?
Question

                Is it permissible for a person to buy a plot of land so that when he dies he may be buried in it?.
Praise be to Allah.The ruling 
    on that depends on the motive that makes him buy the land to be buried in. 
If she wants 
    to prepare a decent place for her burial, because she sees that the 
    graveyards are neglected in her city, or because she sees that a number of 
    people are buried in one place – as happens in some Muslim countries – or 
    she wants to set that land aside as a waqf for burial for herself and other 
    people, and other such aims that are acceptable in Islam, then in that case 
    there is nothing wrong with it if she buys this piece of land and leaves a 
    will instructing that she be buried there, because what she wants to achieve 
    is acceptable according to sharee’ah, and the fiqhi principle says that 
    “things are judged according to their purpose.” 
Imam Ahmad 
    (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: There is nothing wrong with a man 
    buying the site of his grave and leaving a will instructing that he be 
    buried there. ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan did that, as did ‘Aa’ishah and ‘Umar ibn 
    ‘Abd al-‘Azeez (may Allaah be pleased with them all). 
Al-Mughni 
    (3/443). See also: Ahkaam al-Maqaabir fi’l-Sharee’ah by Dr. 
    ‘Abd-Allaah al-Suhaybaani (23-28). 
If she has 
    no such purpose, and all she wants to do is to have a prominent grave and 
    allocate a place separate from other people, then this purpose is not 
    acceptable according to sharee’ah. There is nothing in the Qur’aan or Sunnah 
    to indicate that such an action is permissible, rather in the principles of 
    sharee’ah and the words of the scholars there is evidence to suggest that 
    this is makrooh. For example: 
1 – The 
    fuqaha’ stated that it is mustahabb to be buried in the public graveyard so 
    that the deceased may benefit from the du’aa’ of the believers who visit it, 
    following the example of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be 
    upon him), who buried those of his companions who died in the graveyard of 
    al-Baqee’. 
It says in
    al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (21/9): 
The 
    graveyard is the best place for burial, and that is in order to follow the 
    Sunnah, and so that he may benefit from the du’aa’ of visitors. It is better 
    to be buried in the best graveyard in the town, and it is makrooh to bury 
    anyone in one’s house, even if the deceased is a small child. Ibn ‘Aabideen 
    said: The same applies to burial in a private plot as is done by those who 
    build schools and so on, and have a burial place built close to it. End 
    quote. 
See Radd 
    al-Muhtaar (2/235); al-Majmoo’ (5/245) and Mughni al-Muhtaaj 
    (2/52). 
2 – 
    Moreover, burial in land that is owned by the deceased harms the heirs, as 
    it will prevent them from disposing of it, when there was sufficient room in 
    the Muslim graveyard. 
It says in
    al-Furoo’ by Ibn Muflih al-Hanbali (2/278): 
If he leaves 
    instructions to be buried in his own land, he should be buried with the 
    Muslims, because that (instruction) harms the heirs. End quote. 
3 – 
    Moreover, leaving instructions that one be buried in private land carries 
    the risk that in the future the grave may be tampered with, because the 
    public graveyard is distinct and is known to all people, and no one can 
    transgress upon it by building on it or digging and the like, as all the 
    people will prevent their dead being dishonoured, whereas private land may 
    be transgressed and subjected to people’s greed, as they may take the land 
    and excavate the graves, etc.  
4 – Burial 
    in private land may lead to veneration and sanctification of the grave; 
    people may think that there is something special about it or that this is 
    the grave of one of the awliya’ (“saints”) and so on, so they may commit 
    various kinds of shirk there or seek blessing in haraam ways, because of 
    this person being buried separately from other people. 
5 – Finally, 
    there is the fear that the motive for leaving instructions that one be 
    buried in a private plot is pride and the feeling that one is above being 
    buried with other people in the same place, as can be seen in the graves of 
    some kings and princes, who set aside private plots for themselves. It is 
    known that pride is one of the greatest of sins but death usually breaks 
    every proud and arrogant person, so the Muslim should not be like the 
    arrogant or follow their ways. 
From the 
    above it is clear that buying land and leaving instructions that one be 
    buried there for purposes other than those which are Islamically acceptable 
    is not the best choice. The best option is to be buried with the Muslims and 
    to expose oneself to the blessing of the du’aa’ of righteous Muslims. 
Shaykh Ibn 
    ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Liqa’ al-Baab 
    il-Maftooh (1/559): 
The will 
    does not have to be executed if the deceased left instructions that he is 
    only to be buried in a certain place, rather he should be buried with the 
    Muslims, because the earth is all the same, and if anyone among them died in 
    any place, the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) would bury him 
    there. So these instructions do not have to be carried out, because there is 
    no shar’i purpose behind them. End quote. 
And Allaah 
    knows best.