Al-Qalam 
[Photo source - Vox]
By Nabeelah Shaikh
Critical issues were identified, and an action plan has been put together to address problems in the Muslim burial space in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Muslim Development Integrated Plan (MIDP) recently held its fourth council meeting at the Al Ansaar Hall in Durban. The meeting aimed to look at various problems facing Muslim burials and looked at ways to solve those challenges.
Among these challenges included that there are Muslims who are not being buried as per Islamic rites in Durban, and there is a lack of support from the Muslim Community in certain areas. Other challenges included that there are no Muslim burial facilities for ghusl, as well as cemeteries, and hearse services in certain areas.
“There are many challenges we are facing. One of the biggest problems that were identified was that there are Muslims who are not being buried per Islamic rites. We can’t leave this responsibility to burial societies. They need to function to get people buried. They can’t function around issues of the legalities of people who have accepted Islam and burial rites. We must come in as the rest of the Ummah to step in and help with this problem,” said Ismat Mohamed, MIDP Facilitator.
He said it was up to the people in the field of Dawah and Islamic education to take it upon themselves to make sure they assist their brothers and sisters who have accepted Islam.
“They need to assist to ensure that they get everything like their documents done correctly before they pass away,” said Mohamed.
Some of the resolutions taken around this included that Muslim reverts should register their Islamic names on their IDs, as that will prevent non-Muslims from taking charge of the Janazah.
“The Department of Home Affairs will charge R250. If a person cannot pay for it, then they should request assistance from Muslim charitable organisations. An affidavit must be documented and stamped at a police station stating that you want to be buried as a Muslim. Three family members or other witnesses must be present when signing the affidavit. A copy of the affidavit with the nikah and conversion papers must be filed safely by the applicant and another copy with a Muslim organisation,” said Mohamed.
The other resolution surrounding this is that last wills and testaments should be drafted so that executors will be informed that the person must be buried as a Muslim.
“We should establish Muslim councils in each area. Their responsibility will be to address concerns and challenges of Muslims like the burial issues. Many participants emphasized that even though they had all the legal documents, the family members refused to bury their deceased Muslim family member according to Islamic rites. In some cases, the Muslims had to negotiate with the family members to allow us to do the Ghusl and Janazah and then hand over the Janazah to the family. Then the family buries the deceased according to their cultural or religious beliefs,” said Mohamed.
He said representatives of the Muslim community needed to meet with the family members whilst the Muslim brother or sister was still alive.
“Discuss with the family the importance of Muslim burials and the wish of the Muslim family member to be buried as a Muslim. Also, create the awareness that insurance can be claimed even when a Muslim is buried according to Islamic rites. Sometimes, family members refuse to bury the deceased Muslim family member according to Islamic Rites as they assume that they will not be able to claim insurance,” said Mohamed.
He said it was important that foreign nationals ensure that they have proper documentation as it becomes a struggle to bury them without these documents.
“We acknowledge the commitment of the various Muslim burial societies with the burial services they provide to the Muslim community. They made a valuable contribution in the meeting as many were not aware of the challenges and the processes that need to be followed with regards to Muslim burials,” said Mohamed.
