The color of the shroud is to be white; no other is admissible. They said, Let us set ourselves to prayer, and then make supplication to our Lord, and maybe he will allow one of the dead to come forth to inform us about dying., So they set themselves to prayer and made supplication to their Lord, and while they were engaged in so doing a dark mulatto raised his head out of one of the graves, saying, Ho! Family Structure: . During the ceremony, the sheikh lays out the terms of the marriage, and a contract is signed by both parties. The corpse must be carefully brought from the place it was bathed and laid on the shrouds. Some people in rural areas get black mascara and put it on their faces, forehead, and hands so that everyone will immediately see that they are in mourning. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, Lebanon's largest Shia party, has denounced the ritual of self-harm and urged people to donate their blood instead. Jeffery also reports that the Prophet once said that He who is disinclined to meet with Allah is one whom Allah is disinclined to meet. In other words, when an unbeliever thinks of the punishment that has been prepared for him, he weeps for his doom and is disinclined to die, so Allah is disinclined to meet with him. Then he said, When the light of Islam enters the heart it becomes at ease and is enlarged. Someone asked, And is there any [outward] sign of that? To which he answered: Yes! But, continued the Prophet, when an infidel dies and is about to pass from the world and bring his soul to futurity, black-faced angels [3] come down to him and with them sackcloths. Most Lebanese mark major life events, such as birth, marriage, and death, within the Islamic or Christian religious traditions. In that period, many young men died before marrying and having the chance to procreate. Jeffery observes that Whosoever has a loving desire to meet with Allah is one whom Allah has a loving desire to meet. [17] He states that by meeting with Allah (he means death), the true believer is in such a state that he cannot be responsible for his faith; thus, he will be given the good news that Allah is well pleased with him and will grant him His Paradise. Brigham Young University This tradition symbolizes good luck and protection for the couple's future together. This is your day that you were promised., He will ask, And who are you? to which [the man] will reply, I am your evil deeds, whereat he will say, O Lord, let not the hour arrive. [6] A water well which is considered holy water by all Muslims who perform the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. domesticated beasts] know what you know about dying you would never eat fat meat. [20]. They cry out without interruption with no food, no drink all day until the body is prepared and washed and taken from the house to the burial place. Such a belief caused me to ponder and to ask myself why we receive death completely differently in the Middle East than in the West? However, the writer is planning to conduct such research in the near future. He does everything for the family. Grant Building It is no longer considered shameful not to hold a formal funeral and serve food after the burial due to the financial situation and COVID-19 restrictions. [26] These are Munkar and Nakir, the blue-eyed questioners of the dead. On another occasion the Prophet said: Then he himself began to relate and said: Once there was a group of the Children of Israel who as they were walking along came presently to a graveyard. Heaven and hell are there for good and bad people. Before shrouding the body, the family tears shreds from the clothes. Photo credit: japantimes.co.jp. That population is at an increased risk for several diseases and faces many barriers to accessing the American health care system. Born in 1942 in the mountain town of Bikfaiya, Bouchebel shared a home with his five siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. [20] I.e., they would be so terrified that they would always be thin and lean. Family members use chopsticks to pick up the bones of their loved one after cremation and place them in an urn. Sometimes, however, the relatives do it themselves. His spirit comes forth as easily as a hair from a batch of dough, and hears the words: O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, well-pleasing and well-pleased. The Tradition is intended to describe clearly those people who desire to meet with Allah when Allah desires to meet with them. But when an iniquitous manor some related that he said, an unbelievercomes to die, a messenger of ill tidings (nadhir) will appear, bringing him news of the evil that awaits him, so he will be disinclined to meet with Allah, and Allah disinclined to meet with him. It is opened to them and the chief personages in each heaven receive it and accompany it to that which lies beyond it, till finally they arrive with it at the seventh heaven. I have had personal experience with many of these. [Go on] to the mercy and favor of Allahexalted be He.. The Copts, or Christians of Egypt, have developed different burial customs. When a true believer draws near his end angels come to him with a silk cloth in which are musk and bundles of sweet basil. After the funeral and burial are complete, families . Dirt is thrown over him and burial is complete. The cedar in the center of the Lebanese flag is the symbol of six thousand years of history: the cedar was Lebanon's chief export in ancient times. [29] Unless death occurred at night. Surmah is applied to the eyes with a tent made of rolled up paper with a ring or with a pice. Furthermore, in Sura 1. As in Jewish customs of burial, the deceased must be buried immediately. Spencer J. Palmer (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1978), 3360. To add an RSC website shortcut to your home screen, open the website in the Safari browser. Underneath the house is the basement where the caskets are lined up. This article investigates the relationship be-tween grief and music in the context of the Lebanese village funeral, taking into Likewise, a healthy person can carry effectively through matters which concern his property or his person; therefore, a healthy person ought to seize the opportunity his health gives him to be diligent in using his property and his body for doing deeds of obedience. The Muslims go to the tomb every Thursday. The family was standing in line, friends were also standing in line, so I stood in line. When I entered and approached the family, I was utterly shocked. However, it is preferable that this dowry be remitted while the person is still alive. Another feature of Middle Eastern funerals is that they do not end when the person is buried. The Dinki-Mini Jamaican dance has an African origin and the name originates from the Congolese word "nidingi" that means funeral song. Then the Just and Most Holy God illuminated the body of Adam with lamps of light and commanded the spirit to re-enter. Then they sit from the dead as far as the eye can see, after which the Angel of Death comes in order to sit at his head and says, O impure soul! Even the food in Lebanon is closer to European and western. This struck me as the opposite of Muslim and Christian culture of Egypt or the Middle East. In Western cultures, black clothing was worn as a social symbol to let others know a person was mourning. As soon as a Muslim person dies, it's customary to close the eyes, bind the jaw and cover the body with a clean sheet. [31] It is like entering a village. In Islam the message of good tidings at death has five aspects: Blessed is he whose ending is accompanied by a message of good tidings, for there will be such a message of good tidings only for such as have been true believers and whose works have been good. The culture of Lebanon is mostly middle eastern with a touch of European modernity. First the right side, then the left, until they are all wrapped around the body. Gamali means "my camel.". -strongly encourages theoretical and methodological reflections on the study of the musics of the world. [16] Hughes Dictionary of Islam, pp. This is your day that you were promised., To which the answer will come, I am your pious works. Then [the deceased] will say: O Lord, bring on the hour that I may be again with my family and my servants.. But when the Angel of Death has taken the soul of a servant of God, he resigns it to his assistants, in whose hands is a shroud, and they put it into the shroud with perfumes, and a fragrance issues from the soul like the smell of the best musk that is to be found on the face of the earth. The family serves the sweet dish to visitors who come to the household to . [28] This is elaborated in Frazers classic work, The Golden Bough. Victoria was born in 1958, five years before Kenyan independence. After the body is washed, it is wrapped in a white sheet. Nowadays in the Middle East the family of the deceased goes to the grave carrying a palm tree leaf to put on the grave instead of flowers. Make supplication to Allah for me that he let me be again as I was (among the living)., As for dying, he said, For a true believer the distress and anxiety of dying are equivalent to that from three hundred strokes.. Come forth to the wrath of God.. She would also say, " Hek khabaretne sette " (that's . Before the burial, the deceased person's body is washed. In certain cultures the family takes care of the washing but in the Middle East, the family cannot even touch the body. Exhort dying person to make the Islamic declaration of faith. In the yard of the home a huge tent has been constructed, made of fancy cloth and decorated. Family and friends often pay condolence visits during this period of mourning. Regardless of religion, Lebanese parents celebrate the birth of a child by cooking meghli (a spiced rice pudding, topped with nuts and coconut). If it is innocent Allah has said, What is with Allah is a good thing for the innocent, and if it is wicked Allah has said, We respite them only that they may increase in guilt, and for them is humiliating punishment.. Family members console each other and the minister or priest offers a prayer and the family gives the priest a little money. [33]. Islamic mourning traditions provide ritual and structure for Muslims going through the process of grieving the loss of a loved one. I trust, in this presentation, that you have received some valuable insights into death and dying as it relates to Egypt, Islam, and the Coptic faith. However, what was even more shocking to me was the spirit in which the family received me. The right hand is then placed on top of the left. The Christians of the Middle East are a minority group. Christians are accepting of embalming, so this may occur with the body prior to the funeral service. Druze, also spelled Druse, Arabic plural Durz, singular Darazi, small Middle Eastern religious sect characterized by an eclectic system of doctrines and by a cohesion and loyalty among its members (at times politically significant) that have enabled them to maintain for centuries their close-knit identity and distinctive faith. 63, we find that: If God were to punish men for their wrongdoing, He would not leave on the earth a single living creature; but he respites them until a stated time; and when their time comes they cannot delay it an hour, nor can they hasten it. It is therefore best that those sitting with the dying person read it, in hopes that the sick man, hearing the sound of it, may bring it to his recollection and repeat it either aloud or in his own mind. It is recorded that Abu Hamid al-Laffaf said: It is recorded in Muslim sources that Jesus used to raise the dead by Allahs permission. Death. They do not require the patient to read it himself, since at that time he is in a state of distress and not in a fit state of mind to repeat the Kalimah. You there! Call us at (858) 263-7716. The aim of this paper is to explore the representations of death in Beirut Hellfire Society, a novel written by the Lebanese author, Rawi Hage, and published in 2018. . It is of no consequence if a colored cloth is spread over the bier. Unfortunately, Apple's iOS doesn't support home screen shortcuts in the Chrome browser. An interesting story about death is narrated by Al-Bara ibn cAzib, one of the companions of the Prophet: I came out with the Prophet at the funeral of one of the assistants, and we arrived just at the grave, before they had interred the body, and the Prophet sat down, and we sat around him with our heads down, and were so silent that you might say that birds were sitting upon our heads. What to expect; First visit; FAQ; Our Practice; Why? [6], The moment the spirit has fled, the mouth is closed, because it would present a disagreeable spectacle. [27] Sura LXXXIII, 79; in Arabic it means prison.. Pre-Wedding Rituals. Flowers in the Middle East are still considered a sign of joy, but a palm leaf is not so joyful. The Coptic or Christian cemetery is really amazing. If I play a radio, the relatives of the deceased will hear the music and send a man to my house and tell me to turn off my radio. For example, if we take Europe as a whole, its people meet death and behave differently from the people of the Middle East. [4] Reminiscent of the words of Jesus in the New Testament, Mark 10:25. VIRTUAL BEREAVEMENT: HOW THE LEBANESE USE FACEBOOK TO EXPRESS GRIEF A Thesis presented to the Faculty of Humanties at Notre Dame University-Louaize In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master in Media Studies - Advertising by CYNTHIA GEORGES AZZI JULY 2019 Each person walks in the street carrying a palm leaf. The author describes health beliefs and practices of the Arab Muslim population in the United States. Islam is the most popular religion in Somalia with 99.8% of the population practicing it. Grieve not! 3. [24] An Arab word which means the supporters of the Prophet.. Everybody knows this is the casket of so-and-so and so-and-so. And a man with a hideous countenance comes to him shockingly dressed, of a vile smell, and he says, Be joyful in that which maketh thee miserable; this is the day that was promised thee., Then the dead man says, Who art thou? Muslims believe Allah controls life and death, and death is the end of physical life, but the soul lives on. Christians visit the tomb only on occasions like Christmas and Easter. [3] Italics added by the author. [30] Peasants, especially in Egypt, instead of a suit wear a garment which is called galabiyya or quftan. Funeral DancesLong Tradition.The tradition of a funeral dance in Egypt probably began in the Nagada II Period, as early as 3500 b.c.e. There must be no waiting. There is another interesting sign of death and dying in the Middle East. And they say, Such a one, the son of such a one, calling him by the best names by which he was known in the world, till they reach the lowest region of heaven with him. He hoped that they might prepare themselves for dying and bear with patient endurance (sabr) the distresses of this world; for endurance of the distresses of this world is easier than to endure the distress of dying, and the distress of dying belongs to the torments of the Hereafter, and the torments of the afterlife are more severe than the torments of this life. It's the first dance performed at the Nine-Night celebration, the ninth night preceding the funeral service. The shroud for men is a special set of burial clothes: first, a lungi or izar [12] that reaches from the navel to the knees or ankle joints; second, a qamis or kurta or alfa, [13] that hangs from the neck to the knees or ankles; third, a lifafah [14] or sheet that extends above the head to below the feet. [29] We dont know why, but the body is immediately placed in a casket. [16]. Why do we abstain from everything sweet, from food, from even listening to the radio? The memorial service her friends created a few days after his death, she says, contained a blend of traditions and practices individual to Jon. Then they perform wuduk [11] for the person; they wash his mouth, and arms to the elbows; they make masah on his head and they throw water on his feetthese actions constituting the four parts of the ceremony. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to consider how rituals can lose their extraordinary power when our sense of "normal" is shattered and remains shattered for years. Burying the body without a casket within 24 hours after the death. Every time a pot of water is poured the Kalimatu sh-shada (the words of testimony) is repeated: Ash-hahadu an la ilia Allah, which means I testify that there is no deity but God), either by the person washing or someone else. Westernization, education and independence is decreasing the Lebanese culture and customs. The woman brings a group with their drums, and they begin to eulogize the beautiful characteristics of the deceased. By Allah, O Muhammed, did I desire to take the spirit of a gnat I could not do it till Allah gave me commandment to take it., It is related that the Apostle of Allah said: Did the animals [i.e.