According to these texts, which are based on
interpretations of the qUran, hadith, and the con-
sensus of the Ulama, funerary rites should include:
- pronouncing the testimony of faith (shahada)
prior to death and turning the dying person’s face
toward Mecca; 2) ritually washing and shroud-
ing the corpse; 3) performing funeral prayers; 4)
conducting the body to the cemetery; 5) burial of
the corpse on its right side, with the face turned
to mecca; 6) mourning; and 7) visiting the grave.
The corpse may be dressed in ordinary but not
expensive clothing. Burial should be performed at
a nearby cemetery within 24 hours of death. Men
usually preside in the funeral prayers and ceremo-
nies, but in many cultures Women also participate.
The body is placed in the grave without a coffin,
and extra room is left in the grave out of a belief
that the deceased will be compelled to sit up and
undergo an interrogation by two angels of death
known as Munkar and Nakir. To prepare the dead
for this interrogation, basic articles of faith are
recited at the time of burial. This is called the
talqin. People usually take turns throwing dirt
into the grave, and they pronounce prayers on
behalf of the deceased, especially the verse “From
it [the earth] we created you, then we put you
back into it, and from it we will bring you forth
again” (Q 20:55). Other funerary prayers include
the Fatiha (Q 1) and the chapter “Ya Sin” (Q - of the Quran as well as supplications drawn
from the hadith and other religious texts. Once
the grave is filled, it is leveled. The ulama have
strongly disapproved of decorating the grave site
or erecting a building over it. Nonetheless, many
Muslim cemeteries have gravestones, mausole-
ums, mosqUes, and saint shrines. Indeed, some
of the most impressive examples of Islamicate art
and architecture are connected with housing and
memorializing the dead.
Muslim jurists have also attempted to curb
many lamentation and mourning practices because
of their belief that too much grief for the dead is
an affront to God, the giver of life and death.
They are also wary of the assimilation of what
they regard as un-Islamic innovations (bidaa);
excessive grieving, public displays of emotion,
singing, and dancing are considered to be repre-
hensible or forbidden. Despite such regulations,
in actual practice people may mourn for up to
40 days, or even a year, after death, especially
for husbands, wives, or parents. Somber Quran
recitations are conducted during the mourning
period, during which families customarily keep
a solemn public demeanor, wear black clothing,
and avoid festive occasions such as weddings
and parties. Relatives, friends, neighbors, and
acquaintances are expected to visit, bring gifts of
food, and offer their condolences as soon as they
can after a death has occurred. Often, meals are
shared in memory of the dead; in rural societies,
such feasts may bring a whole village together. In
many Muslim cultures, an animal is sacrificed,
with the meat shared among the mourners and
the poor. Each year, especially on major holidays,
family members visit the graves of loved ones,
and in some cultures they distribute food to chil-
dren, strangers, and the needy in remembrance
of the dead.
Of course, prescribed and culturally deter-
mined funerary practices may be waived or
circumvented in exceptional situations. Soldiers
who die in battle can be interred in their blood-
soaked garments without ritual cleansing or
funerary prayers. People who die on an ocean
voyage may be buried at sea. Victims of wars
or natural catastrophes—earthquakes and tidal
waves, for example—may be buried in mass
graves. In modern times, Muslims who have
migrated to Western countries may be buried
in coffins in accordance with local burial and
sanitation ordinances. Some immigrant mosques
have their own mortuary facilities and purchase
plots of land in existing cemeteries for the burial
of Muslims. Some Muslims, however, prefer to
have their dead transported back to their native
lands for burial.
See also ablUtion; aFterliFe; Food and drink;
martyrdom; soUl and spirit; sUicide.funerary rituals 251 J