Lebanon is more diverse than the average middle eastern country and it is a sign of freedom, pluralism, and tolerance between the west and east. Death and dying are universal realities for all creations in every country and cultural area. Druze. Family members use chopsticks to pick up the bones of their loved one after cremation and place them in an urn. An interesting story about death is narrated by Al-Bara ibn cAzib, one of the companions of the Prophet: I came out with the Prophet at the funeral of one of the assistants, and we arrived just at the grave, before they had interred the body, and the Prophet sat down, and we sat around him with our heads down, and were so silent that you might say that birds were sitting upon our heads. Source: The Internet. In Western cultures, black clothing was worn as a social symbol to let others know a person was mourning. When Muhammed made the statement above, people responded, But, O Apostle of Allah, we are all disinclined to die. He answered: That is not disinclination. -thinks across disciplinary boundaries; and Home; Our Practice; Services; What to expect. Perfumes [7] are burned near the corpse. In the case of a deceased female, if relatives are present, they undo the cloth of the head to expose the face and ask the dead person, in the presence of two witnesses, to remit the dowry which had been given her. Then the Angel of Death arrives, takes a seat at his head and says, O thou pernicious soul, come forth to Allahs discontent and wrath. Thereupon his soul is scattered through all his members and [the angel] drags it forth like the dragging of an iron spit through moist wool, tearing the veins and the sinews. If you dont drink it, its a serious insult to the deceased. There Allah says, Write its record in cIlliyun [25] and return it to the earth from which I created men, into which I make them return, and out of which I shall bring them a second time. (Sura, xx, 55/57), The spirit is then returned to its body, whereupon two angels [26] come to it and ask it, Who is the Lord?, Then they say, And what say you about this man who was sent [on a mission] among you?, And it answers, He is the Apostle of Allah., And it answers, I have read Allahs Book, believed it, and in it put my trust., Then a herald will call: He has believed My servant (i.e. +91-9879950702 Monday - Friday 10:00 - 7:30 Rakhiyal, Ahmedabad, Gujarat . Dirt is thrown over him and burial is complete. As for the unbeliever, when he draws near his end, angels come to him with a cloth of hair in which are coals of fire. They ask him, Who is your Lord? and he replies, Alas, I know not., They ask him, And what is your religion? to which he again replies, Alas! The body was preserved so that the soul would not also die as a result of the dismemberment of the body. Some women who are particular in these matters are afraid even to venture near the place where the body has been washed. Dinki-Mini. Whether you are poor or rich, this is one of the necessities of a bona fide Muslim funeral. Men only go outside. It is therefore best that those sitting with the dying person read it, in hopes that the sick man, hearing the sound of it, may bring it to his recollection and repeat it either aloud or in his own mind. There is a well-dressed waiter, hired of course, who circulates with a tray of coffee for the guests. Provo, UT 84602 [19] Mararat al-mawt, the distress of death, has reference to one of the many expressions used for death-pains or the agony of death. Why do we abstain from everything sweet, from food, from even listening to the radio? There is a most serious religious rule amongst Muslims that if there is a desire for the dying person to repeat the Kalimah, and the sick man expires without being able to do so, his faith is considered dubious, and the man who directed him to repeat the Kalimah incurs guilt. Out Of Many Cultures: The People Who Came - The Lebanese . But before the burial the body must be washed. The first is for believers in general, who receive the message: Fear not that the punishment will be everlasting, or, you will not remain in torment forever because the Prophet and righteous persons will intercede for you. Its like vacationing in Las Vegas! However, the writer is planning to conduct such research in the near future. It is an expression in Egypt similar to the American idea of visiting the dead with flowers. Religion of Syria. Instead of a casket, a flat board platform is used, held up by four assigned pallbearers and four volunteers. "After the war, and after the emigration, people are no more attached to . Ritual for Holding the Emotions of a Person Facing Death. When the faqih pauses in his recitations, one group moves on and as he resumes, another group comes in. Death is a universal reality, and a prime concern for the living. So they sit apart from the deceased, as far as the eyes can see, after which the Angel of Death [Malakul-Mawt] comes to the deceased and sits at his head and says, O pure soul, come forth to Gods pardon and pleasure.. Hopefully this will serve to give you a better understanding of ways in which the traditions of the Middle East differ from those practiced in the United States, particularly among the Mormon people. They dig a hole in the earth to contain the water used in the washing and to keep it from spreading over a large surface, as some men and women consider it bad to tread on such water. Each part has its traditions and customs, and people may attend one or all . Gamali means my camel. She is saying, Oh, my camel. Of course he was not a camel, but it shows the great loss that has occurred. But when the Angel of Death has taken the soul of a servant of God, he resigns it to his assistants, in whose hands is a shroud, and they put it into the shroud with perfumes, and a fragrance issues from the soul like the smell of the best musk that is to be found on the face of the earth. As soon as a Muslim person dies, it's customary to close the eyes, bind the jaw and cover the body with a clean sheet. Death Care for the Dead Burial in Jewish Cemetery Mourning Practices Kaddish Tombstones. #1 The Value of the Cup. Caretaker finance minister Youssef Khalil requested to change the rate at which customs fees are calculated from 15,000 pounds per U.S. dollar to 45,000 pounds, according to . The katb Al-kitaab is the marriage ceremony. Then they dig a simple hole large enough to accommodate the person. Allah here makes it clear that the one who speaks truth desires death, but the false speaker flees from death because of the evil of his works. That population is at an increased risk for several diseases and faces many barriers to accessing the American health care system. I know not., They ask, Well, what do you say about this man who was sent [on a mission] among you? But again he replies, Alas! Such a belief caused me to ponder and to ask myself why we receive death completely differently in the Middle East than in the West? In Islam, the deceased are to be buried within 24 hours. Even as late as in Egyptian Christianity, some forms are still easily identified. So if you attend a death ceremony of a practicing Hindu, it is likely the body will be cremated. Then, said the Prophet, it comes forth, flowing as easily as a drop from a water-skin, whereupon [those angels] take it, not leaving it in his hand more than the twinkling of an eye ere they take it, [wrap it] in the aforementioned shroud and aromatics so that the odor from it is more redolent than the finest musk to be found on the face of the earth, and mount up with it. To such the angels will descend (at death), and they will say to the angels: Man was created for death. He does everything for the family. The Lebanese are extremely proud of the amount of cultural heritage they share. Today, all Lebanese speak Arabic; most of them, especially the upper and middle classes, speak French; recently, English has become increasingly important. This is your day that you were promised., He will ask, And who are you? to which [the man] will reply, I am your evil deeds, whereat he will say, O Lord, let not the hour arrive. cAli reported that Muhammed saw the Angel of Death at the head of a man of the Ansar, so the Prophet said to him: Be gentle with my friend, for he is a true believer., He answered: Be of good cheer, O Muhammed, for I am gentle with every true believer. Immediately after death a family member contacts one of these women. They cry out without interruption with no food, no drink all day until the body is prepared and washed and taken from the house to the burial place. [26] These are Munkar and Nakir, the blue-eyed questioners of the dead. But when an iniquitous manor some related that he said, an unbelievercomes to die, a messenger of ill tidings (nadhir) will appear, bringing him news of the evil that awaits him, so he will be disinclined to meet with Allah, and Allah disinclined to meet with him. Let us, therefore, ask Allah to appoint us a good ending, to grant us an ending that is accompanied by a message of good tidings, for there is a message of good tidings from Allahexalted be Hefor the true believer when death comes to him, and it is the words of the Most High. 10 Customs Only Lebanese People Will Understand. It is opened to them and the chief personages in each heaven receive it and accompany it to that which lies beyond it, till finally they arrive with it at the seventh heaven. To us the whole idea is entirely different. Aboriginal mortuary rites in Australia. Another interesting custom in the Middle East is that radios cannot be played in homes surrounding the deceaseds home. People are never buried underground. Heaven and hell are there for good and bad people. In certain cultures the family takes care of the washing but in the Middle East, the family cannot even touch the body. Upon completion of all formalities, the "Report of the Death of . They said, Let us set ourselves to prayer, and then make supplication to our Lord, and maybe he will allow one of the dead to come forth to inform us about dying., So they set themselves to prayer and made supplication to their Lord, and while they were engaged in so doing a dark mulatto raised his head out of one of the graves, saying, Ho! Then the Angel of Death takes the soul of the infidel, and having taken it, the angels do not allow it to remain with him even for the twinkling of an eye, but they take it in the sackcloth, and a disagreeable smell issues from the soul, like that of the most fetid carcass that can be met with upon the face of the earth. The late Ayatollah Fadlallah, a . Then the different shrouds are put on properly, one after another as they lay. In accordance with Muslim concepts of death and dying, loud screams and lamentations are performed only by women. They answer such an one, the son of such an one, and they mention him by the worst names that he bore in the world, till they arrive with it at the lowest heaven, and call the door to be opened, but it cannot be done., Then the Prophet repeated this verse: The doors of the celestial regions shall not be opened for them, nor shall they enter into Paradise till a camel passes through the eye of a needle. [4], Then God says, Write his history in Sijjin, which is the lowest earth; then his soul is thrown down with violence.. When death comes near a believer, God gives him a spirit of resignation, and so it is that there is nothing which a believer likes so much as death.. The women hit their cheeks very hard until others stare, because it is believed that a woman who does not hit her cheeks hard and scream loudly doesnt love the dead person or lacks interest in him. Then the soul comes out, issuing like water from a bag, and the Angel of Death takes it; and when he takes it, the angels do not allow it to remain in his hands for the twinkling of an eye. Food and food baskets are appropriate gifts, especially during the three day mourning period. Grieve not lest you miss the reward, but rejoice in good tidings of the Garden, that you will assuredly go to Paradise. Chopsticks and DNA - Japan. A camel symbolizes wealth among the villagers and when a camel dies naturally or disappears, its a great loss. Food is crucial. First, however, I would like to share with you my impressions, as a Middle Easterner, of my first experience with an American funeral, which took place in Salt Lake City. 8 Doll-Bride Marriage In Japan. Legend has it that the gods Herus and Anubis cared for the dead body of Osiris, an Egyptian deity; and likewise a dead person would live on only if friends and relatives did for him just what Herus and Anubis did for the body of Osiris. After the funeral and burial are complete, families . The truth-speaking believer has made preparation for death, so he wishes for it, yearning for his Lord. The cedar in the center of the Lebanese flag is the symbol of six thousand years of history: the cedar was Lebanon's chief export in ancient times. 63, we find that: If God were to punish men for their wrongdoing, He would not leave on the earth a single living creature; but he respites them until a stated time; and when their time comes they cannot delay it an hour, nor can they hasten it. If not, the marriage will is going up a slippery slope, so to speak. July 9-11, 1860. Every time a pot of water is poured the Kalimatu sh-shada (the words of testimony) is repeated: Ash-hahadu an la ilia Allah, which means I testify that there is no deity but God), either by the person washing or someone else. Underneath the house is the basement where the caskets are lined up. 7,000-25,000. The Christians of the Middle East are a minority group. So the Prophet said, Go and put in practice what that involves, then come and I will teach you of the wonders of learning.. There is another view which says that the meaning of the Tradition is not that ones loving desire to meet with Allah is the cause of Allahs loving desire to meet with him, nor that ones disinclination is the cause of His disinclination. Nowadays in the Middle East the family of the deceased goes to the grave carrying a palm tree leaf to put on the grave instead of flowers. In the Catholic funeral tradition, there are multiple ceremonies in honor of the deceased. Hes the man of the family. When I asked my friend about this attitude, I was told that death is a transitiona bridge to a happy and everlasting life in heaven. They sleep there three or four nights with the buried people underneath. [31] It is like entering a village. The Christian's body is considered sacred because it was the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The shrouds consist of three pieces of cloth for a man and five for a woman. Most Lebanese mark major life events, such as birth, marriage, and death, within the Islamic or Christian religious traditions. This has nothing to do with painful emotions, the attribution of which to Allahexalted be Hewould not be fitting. Christians visit the tomb only on occasions like Christmas and Easter. Some people in rural areas get black mascara and put it on their faces, forehead, and hands so that everyone will immediately see that they are in mourning. In it he likewise appoints his executor. My family has a home in a town where it lives, with a key and a door and locks. He may wear it for years, depending how dear or how close the dead person was to him. We know something about the people of the Middle East, but we are not well acquainted with certain important cultural patterns of that area. The World of Music is an international peer-reviewed journal seeking a critical understanding of performing arts and cultural practices involving music, dance and theater worldwide, as well as the many contexts in which they come into being. However, what was even more shocking to me was the spirit in which the family received me. When she died on June 12, 2013, at age 55, the reserve had been under siege for several years from poachers targeting older . Encourage patient to continue daily prayers. Then the Just and Most Holy God illuminated the body of Adam with lamps of light and commanded the spirit to re-enter. When a loved one dies in Aboriginal society in Australia's Northern Territory, elaborate rituals begin. On your leisure before you are busily occupied, means that by night one is at leisure but by day is busily occupied, therefore one ought to say prayers at night during the period of his leisure and fast by day. 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