Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Aunt Nancy's Burial

My Aunt Nancy died last September 2nd. My Aunt Susie was executor of the estate and now things finally got to the point where Nancy's ashes could be put in the ground with her parents (my grandparents) according to her wishes. Aunt Susie, my cousin Frankie Sue, me and my mom buried her this morning with the cemetery staff.








Many many more people are opting for cremation these days - it is less expensive for the family by a long shot, and many communities are encouraging it due to burial space and sanitation issues as well. But some religions have very specific burial instructions which don't include cremation. Why is that? Is it traumatic for the soul or does the soul even care, or are there other reasons? How do you want to be buried and why?

3 comments:

Bahlool said...

Muslims i know have a saying, if you burn the body in this life its just the start of burning of hell. I want to be burried as i am a muslim and thats how muslims do that, there is a story of the crow that showed Adams son how to burry his murdered brother.
Furthermore we believe that the body should be intact, thats why cremation is a tabu.

otowi said...

Thanks for the feedback!

Hasmonan said...

Mongols and other animists believed that unless the body was buried undisturbed, it would not be resurrected. The Quran tellingly says in one place 'God will resurrect whoever is in the graves...' implying there has to be a grave intact for Him to resurrect. (This may be referring to reja'at, a resurrection in the time of Imam Mahdi.)

A hadith says "…Everything of a human body will waste away' perish or decay except the last coccyx bone (Al-ajb, Arab.) and from that bone Allah will reconstruct the whole body"

Other hadith about Jafar al Tayyar say that he will be given 2 wings in paradise instead of him arms. So this implies that his bones will not be reconstructed, but merely the flesh on them will be.

Allah knows best.