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

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.