What is interesting to note is the fact that 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 a 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 for burial is not mentioned anywhere in the Quran nor is it prescribed. For example, the Quran states when 'ghusl' (bathing) or 'wudu' (ablution) is required (5:6).
There is complete silence on the matter regarding 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 and it is a matter left to society to prepare and bury the body in what is deems appropriate. There is no codified Quranic position with regards this. There is no right or wrong way to bury the dead, 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.
To underscore the latter point of dignity, here is a telling verse with regards the corpse of the murdered son of Adam. (pbuh) Unfortunately many interpreters unnecessarily restrict the rendering of this verse to support a possible 'burial process'. However, a little examination of the verse clearly indicates that the verse has a much wider purport.
005:031
"𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂 𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆 (𝑨𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒄: 𝑺𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒂) 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. "𝑾𝒐𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆!" 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆; "𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓?" 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒕"
The Arabic word 'Sawata' in this context has been used to denote 'shame' and although can depict a corpse in a metaphorical sense, it is a reference to the external portion of both sexes, their shame and their nakedness. The root (SIIN-WAW-ALIF) from which the word is derived carries the meaning of ill, anything that makes a person sad or sorrowful, a bad action, to do evil, to disgrace, to treat badly, evil doer, wretched, grievous or to annoy.
Let us see another verse in which the same Arabic word is utilised in a plural context in the 3rd person form to denote nakedness / shame.
007.022
"𝑺𝒐 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍: 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆 (𝑨𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒄: 𝑺𝑨𝑾𝑨𝑻-𝒖𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂) 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎: "𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖?"
020.121
𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 (𝑨𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒄: 𝑺𝑨𝑾𝑨𝑻-𝒖𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂) 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎: 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏: 𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝑨𝒅𝒂𝒎 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆𝒅.
So verse 5:31 with regards Adam's (pbuh) murdered son is no doubt a reference to the corpse which was laid bare in a manner of nakedness (both literal and metaphorical interpretations supportable) 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲. At the time of Adam (pbuh) and his children, they would not have had access to complex wardrobes as we do today and attire would have most certainly been simple making use of natural foliage and animal skins. In a struggle of the kind that ensued between the two sons of Adam (pbuh) which caused the death of one of them, this coverage would most likely have laid bare the shame of the murdered son.
At the time of death, the angels that are tasked to remove the soul take the soul without fail (6:61) and the body almost immediately starts to disintegrate. A simple question to ask is why would a decaying body need to be prepared in a complex set of rituals when in a short period it is fully decomposed?
It is clear from a historic study of this subject that many civilisations have sought to ‘protect’ the body for a manner of reasons in some form or another.
(𝐢) 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬.
(𝐢𝐢) 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬.
(𝐢𝐢𝐢) 𝐀 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 (𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬) 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.
(𝐢𝐯) 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.
At the point of death, tissues and cells rapidly die, different cells at different rates. Decomposition is well under way by the time the body is cremated or buried. Decomposition is rapid as the intestines are packed with millions of organisms which do not die with the deceased but continue to invade other parts of the body. This is further compounded by other organisms within the soil. Depending on the location, the soil integrity the corpse can become infested with maggots very rapidly.
Although burial in a coffin slows down the process and the body may remain identifiable for many months. However within a year all that is usually left is the skeletal framework of the body and the teeth.
Many complex ways were designed by many nations to counter and protect the body of the dead. There is no better example than the mummification process of the Egyptians. Again the drive behind the mummification is the key, a possible necessity to secure the afterlife, which was a popular belief throughout ancient Egyptian civilization.
It is the association with the loved one that has passed why there is a want to treat the body with such respect. There is nothing wrong this, but one needs to appreciate what is necessary and what is claimed as part of 'religion' supporting a particular ‘belief’ or ‘doctrine’.
When the soul departs its record is closed. This can be attested in numerous verses from the Quran. What is done with the body, how it is buried, what others may do to it has no effect on the account of the soul. There are many who die and never receive a burial, many who remain frozen on mountains, drowned deep in the sea or have suffered a fate in which their body parts are beyond recognition. The departed soul has earned its measure during its life, what is left is a matter for the living to come to terms with and to remember their own inevitable death.
𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒
There is no right or wrong way to bury the dead nor is this stipulated by scripture as part of ‘Deen’. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 as we saw in the case of Adam’s (pbuh) son.
Societal customs are appreciated as are practical necessities.
However, to claim a highly ritualised practice of preparing the dead body as a necessary part of religion is not supported by scripture which claims to be fully detailed and complete.
Finally, within general Muslim thought, the dead body of a ‘martyr’ 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱. Furthermore, many Muslim ‘scholars’ take the position that it is neither necessary nor appropriate to offer funeral prayers for martyrs.
This begs the question, who defines the ‘martyr’? This is an especially pertinent question when throughout Islamic history, Muslims have fought Muslims and many have taken their own lives by killing innocent people in the name of martyrdom.
-𝓙𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓹𝓱 𝓐 𝓘𝓼𝓵𝓪𝓶-
𝑤𝑤𝑤.𝑞𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒.𝑐𝑜𝑚
