![Osama bin Laden](https://ideas.time.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/05/11713151.jpg?w=260)
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden’s remains posed a challenge for American authorities, who wanted to follow Islamic law while preventing the potential creation of a shrine. (The Geneva Conventions require war dead be buried according their religion “if possible.”) The Obama administration’s solution was burial in the North Arabian Sea — a choice soon criticized by some Islamic leaders. Dubai’s grand mufti Mohammed al-Qubaisi told the Associated Press: “If the family does not want him, it’s really simple in Islam: You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, you say the prayers and that’s it.” He added: “Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances. This is not one of them.”