PHOTOS: The Dead Live With Their Relatives In Indonesia's Toraja Community : Goats and Soda The Toraja people of Indonesia keep the preserved bodies of their deceased relatives at home for years. They're saving up for a big funeral. But there's a deeper reason for the custom.
Death rituals in different religions vary widely, but every faith has traditions meant to help the family with the process of saying goodbye. Most religions have funerals within a week.
Do Buddhists Bury the Dead? Buddhists typically favor cremation because they believe it is an important way to release the soul from the physical form. Buddha himself was cremated, so his followers often follow his lead. But burial with embalming is allowed, too.
Loved ones will take turns to sit with the body at the family home, temple or funeral parlour, while mourners may bring offerings of things like incense or food. This can last up to seven days. During this period, it's traditional for mourners to offer money as a donation to the soul of the dead person.
After death, the deceased is ritually bathed. He or she is then dressed in seven layers of clothing. The soul of the deceased can then make the long journey to the other world in peace. In China, the deceased is buried above the ground in a kind of hill – preferably by the water – into which the coffin is inserted.
Islamic law (“sharia”) dictates that funeral arrangements must start immediately after the death of a loved one. This means there is no viewing or visitation and mourners must attend their mosque's prayer room to offer religious prayers for the deceased.
Of all world religions, Islam is probably the most strongly opposed to cremation. Unlike Judaism and Christianity, there is little diversity of opinion about it. Cremation is considered by Islam to be an unclean practice.
Muslims believe a funeral to be a very spiritual occasion. Everyone in attendance participates in group prayers, in which mourners pray that Allah will have mercy on not only the deceased but also on all deceased Muslims.
Hinduism. Another religion originating from the Indian subcontinent, Hinduism, also stipulates that sacred objects should be left in place after death, and the body kept covered. The body and sacred objects are then washed and dressed by family, with the eldest son of the dead person traditionally leading this ceremony ...
A person must be buried as soon as possible after death, says Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid, chairman for the Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony in the UK. This is usually no more than 24 hours later. The reason for speedy burials partially stems from days when hygiene wasn't at its best, Dr Sajid says.
The Islamic faith doesn't allow coffins or burial caskets. Instead, those burying the body will place stones or wood at the bottom of the grave to prevent the body from contacting the soil and gently lay their loved one on top with their right side facing the qibla.
Muslims are always buried, never cremated. It is a religious requirement that the body be ritually washed and draped before burial, which should be as soon as possible after death. Those carrying out this duty should be immunised against hepatitis B and be aware of the hazards of AIDS.
Jewish Death Rituals According to Jewish Law
The body of the deceased is washed thoroughly. The deceased is buried in a simple pine coffin. The deceased is buried wearing a simple white shroud (tachrichim). The body is guarded or watched from the moment of death until after burial.
Islam. The sacred texts of Islam prefer burial on land, "so deep that its smell does not come out and the beasts of prey do not dig it out". However, if a person dies at sea and it is not possible to bring the body back to land before decay, or if burial at land becomes impossible, burial at sea is allowed.
Nor can the ashes be scattered in the air, land or sea since doing so would give the appearance of "pantheism, naturalism or nihilism," the guidelines said. It repeated church teaching that Catholics who choose to be cremated for reasons contrary to the Christian faith must be denied a Christian funeral.
In Christian countries, cremation fell out of favor due to the Christian belief in the physical resurrection of the body. Christians also used burial as a mark of difference from the Iron Age European pre-Christian Pagan religions, which usually cremated their dead.
In Islam, the deceased are to be buried within 24 hours.
Those present when the person passes should continue tradition by saying “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un”. This means “Verily we belong to Allah, and truly to Him shall we return” and is a must for all Muslims who have since passed from this world.
Buddhist funeral services are traditionally held in a monastery or at the family home. In line with Buddhist funeral traditions, Buddhist monks are invited to lead the ceremony, where they will read sermons and lead chants or sutras (Buddhist funeral prayers).
Four months and ten days, that's about 130 days (give or take a leap year) or a third of a year – the time a widow is meant to mourn for her husband in Islam. For everyone else it's just three days.
24-72 hours after death — the internal organs decompose. 3-5 days after death — the body starts to bloat and blood-containing foam leaks from the mouth and nose. 8-10 days after death — the body turns from green to red as the blood decomposes and the organs in the abdomen accumulate gas.
Typically, funerals are held within a few days up to a week after the person's death. This gives the family enough time to make arrangements with the funeral home and contact the loved ones of the deceased.
The majority of funerals (葬儀, sōgi or 葬式, sōshiki) in Japan include a wake, the cremation of the deceased, a burial in a family grave, and a periodic memorial service. According to 2007 statistics, 99.81% of deceased Japanese are cremated.
Equally the Quran says that: 'If anyone saves a life, it is as if he saves the lives of all humankind'. Thus many Muslims understand from this verse that donating one's organs is a blessed act. In 1995, the Muslim Law (Sharia) Council UK issued a fatwa, religious edict, saying organ donation is permitted.