Funeral Traditions

Islamic funerary traditions are informed by Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). The Qur’an, Islam’s primary holy book, and Hadith, recorded practices and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, are the main sources of Fiqh. Like most religious traditions, Islam has prescribed rituals for funerals. Muslim traditions holds that the body should be buried as soon as possible, typically within 72 hours. Once the body is pronounced dead, the aš-šahādah, the articulation of faith in Islam, is said on behalf of the dead.Once the aš-šahādah has been said, the body is ready for the next step: Ġhusl (the ritual washing of the body).¹

After the body is washed, it is shrouded in a simple white cloth. At the mosque before the body is transported to the graveyard or at the site of burial, a traditional Islamic congregational prayer, janāzah prayer, is performed.² Now the body is ready for burial. Parallel to their pre-burial rituals, certain practices and rituals guide the way bodies are buried. The Fiqh requires the body is buried facing Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. Not surprisingly, non-Muslim cemeteries do not have graves specifically made to face Mecca, and this can be difficult to coordinate if the cemetery was not planned with this need in mind. In the Twin Cities, all the Muslim cemeteries feature graves facing Mecca.