Tuesday, 29 May 2007CAIRO ÔÇö As the country's burial codes do not provide for final preparations before a Muslim body can be buried in accordance with Shari`ah, many US Muslims have volunteered to administer the proceedings themselves, making sure that dead are well-washed and scented before being laid to rest.
"We don't have services where people are paid to wash bodies," Tahir Anwar, imam of the South Bay Islamic Association in San Jose, South California, told USA Today in a report published Monday, May 28.
"We do it ourselves, as family members or volunteers, as a reminder of our own mortality."
In Islam, the dead body should be immediately taken to a mortuary for washing and preparation.
Two or three adult Muslims should wash the body and then put on the shroud (kafan). Before the burial, the funeral prayer should be done.
The burial should be done as soon as possible. It is makruh (reprehensible) to delay the burial of the dead.
"It would be unacceptable if there were even one time when a body was not washed," said Nusaybah Ritchie, a 39-year-old activist and volunteer mortician.
Ritchie, who reverted to Islam more than 10 years ago, always keeps an emergency kit on hand in her car which includes sheets, scissors, wash cloths, soap, camphor and a small bucket.
She is ready to wash and shroud dead female Muslims if family members are unable to perform the proceedings themselves or if volunteers are not available.
The volunteer also says well-done pre-burial proceedings could provide solace for a grieving family.
"Doing this last, loving act for one's friend or family member in and of itself can be very soothing," she added.
And she insists that the proceedings must be done properly.
"Treat the person as you would want to be treated," Ritchie says.
"Idealistic Brotherhood"
The volunteer morticians say they are driven by a sense of fraternity enshrined in the Muslim faith, which urges followers to be cooperative and helpful to one another during hard times.
"You are part of this idealistic brotherhood," Muhammad Fraser Abdur Rahim, 27, told the daily.
"Caring for people when they need your assistance," added Abdur Rahim, who first helped wash a body when he was only eight along with his father, an imam in Charleston, South California.
"As we washed this older gentleman, putting musk and camphor on him, I saw him in a babylike state, needing our assistance, and the feeling of being afraid just left."
Abdur Rahim said the experience reminds Muslims that they are mortal and should prepare better for the Hereafter.
"Giving someone their last rite on this physical earth, you realize the body is a human being, and someone will do the same thing for you."
Ritchie agreed that the services serve as a faith catalyst.
"Performing this service for others is a reminder that death is a certainty for all of us."
May 29, 2007
Islam Online
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Tuesday, 29 May 2007
US
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