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Family and community visits
A dying Muslim is likely to have a high number of visitors as family, friends and community gather to show respect, resolve unfinished business and say a final farewell. The hospital will need to manage the numbers by offering a facility whereby the numbers at the bedside can be rotated.
Death-related religious rituals
Essential Practice Point 6
- If death appears imminent, relatives or, in their absence, the imam from the person's tradition should be called and given facilities to perform the customary Islamic death rites. These rites include assisting the person to recite a declaration of faith (Shahadah), reciting chapters from the Qur'an and praying for the peaceful departure of the soul.
- Just before death the person should be turned onto the right side facing south east (in Ireland). When a patient is unable to be turned, they may be placed on their back with the feet in the south easterly direction and their head slightly raised. This is the direction of the Ka'bah, the structure at the centre of the Mosque in the holy city of Makkah (Mecca), towards which Muslims turn while offering daily prayers and is considered by them to be the holiest place on Earth.
(Return to Summary of Essential Practice Points)
Customs to be observed at death
Essential Practice Point 7
- Muslims believe that the deceased retains awareness. As a result the body must be handled gently and prepared for burial in a specific manner. If family is not immediately available to attend to this, the appropriate Islamic Centre/imam should be contacted so that they can make arrangements for the ritual washing, shrouding and burial in accordance with Islamic requirements.
- Islam requires that burial take place as soon as possible. Any reasons for delay should be explained to the family.
(Return to Summary of Essential Practice Points)
Cleaning and touching the body
Essential Practice Point 8
- Healthcare workers should NOT wash the body.
- Immediately after death only essential tasks need to be performed. In the absence of family or a community member any healthcare worker may conduct these tasks, as follows:
- The body should only be touched by same-gender healthcare staff.
- Wear disposable gloves and maintain a quiet composure.
- Close the eyes of the deceased.
- Remove any tubes and plug any incisions that may cause a flow of blood.
- Clean any excretions, i.e. excrement, blood, etc.
- Bandage the lower jaw to the head so that the mouth does not open.
- Flex the joints of the arms and legs to stop them becoming rigid so that washing and shrouding can be carried out properly.
- At all times the deceased's body must be modestly covered. If no relative or community member is immediately available, the family and community will appreciate healthcare staff ensuring this.
(Return to Summary of Essential Practice Points)
Postmortem requirements
- In Islam the body should be buried whole and unharmed, therefore strictly speaking no part of the body should be cut or harmed. Postmortems are acceptable only if law requires it. Islamic representatives view that postmortems not founded on compelling medical or legal circumstances amounts to desecration of the body.
- The family is likely to want all the organs returned to the body before burial.
- Where a death has to be reported to the coroner it is important to explain that the person was Muslim and any necessary procedure needs to be expedited.
Interment ritual
A funeral prayer, called Salaatul Janaazah, is usually held for the deceased by the local Muslim community, asking for God's mercy and blessings.
Bodies are buried and cremation is forbidden in Islam. Muslims are not buried in coffins, but rather the shrouded body will be placed directly in the earth. The grave is usually positioned so that the body, when turned on its right side, faces Makkah.
Bereavement
- When the person passes grieving is expected, while family and relatives are generally directed to not be overly demonstrative in their grieving behaviour.
- The healthcare setting will greatly ease the minds of loved ones by respecting religious norms in the way the body is treated after death and by allowing the body to be collected as quickly as possible for washing and burial.
