Death As A Rite Of Passage In A Muslim Community
Rites of passages are basically rituals in an important ceremony taking a person from one social stage to another. To understand this rite of passage we must know the stages of rites of passage. They consist of three stages, “separation (pre-liminary), transition (liminary) and incorporation (post liminary). Phase one is the ceremonial removal of the individual from everyday society, phase two is a period of ritual isolation, and phase three the formal return and readmission back into society in his or her new status”.
So the first phase is separation which means leaving everything behind and moving on. The second is transition which consists of the in-between part of your adventure. Whereas, the last phase of incorporation is about finishing the task and getting a new identity. In the article of death and dying from the Muslim perspective, “Death for a Muslim is a passage between two segments of a continuous life”. This is the time of separation in rites of passage where a person with Islamic faith dies is believed to start a new afterlife later on. He is being separated from his family members and starting a new journey towards God (Allah). Also, his actions in this world would determine whether that person is going to end up in heaven or hell. The second step, of separation as explained in this line, “Washing. After death, the body is undressed and laid on a wooden floor”.
The process begins by washing the body thoroughly and shrouding it. In most cases, men wash the deceased with male body and women wash the female body. Next, the body is wrapped in white cloth which recognized as a “caffan”. Then the deceased is laid down on a bed and all the mourners see it for the last time before the burial process. At this point, the separation process is done and the transition process begins. The transition part includes the burial of a person, “The body is laid in the grave facing towards Mecca, covered with stones and rocks, and then with dust or sand”. The deceased is buried and not cremated in Islam. The grave is also dug higher than the normal height of the person. Sand is thrown all over the grave to cover the body up. Participants who are burying the body are asked to offer special prayers for the betterment of that individual. Women are only allowed to see the deceased before it is taken for burial purposes. Reason for this action is that women can easily break down so they should stay back home. This is considered as a transition phase because the corpse is neither present in the actual world or the hereafter. His journey from this world is coming to an end and a new chapter is about to begin.
The final phase of rites of passage is called incorporation. Incorporation begins when the funeral is done and the person is buried. The cycle of praying continues after the funeral, “The initial bereavement period lasts for three days, during which prayers in the home are recited almost continuously. Mourners pray during the three days period for the person who left this world. They pray to God (Allah) to award the person with the highest place in the heaven. Everyone is supposed to dress up modestly during this time. Special versus are being recited by the members from the Quran. Sharing of grief among people is promoted so the pain of losing someone could be healed. Hence all the three stages determine the rites of passage of death in Islam, moreover, a comparison could be made with death presented in Hinduism.
