On the third day after the burial of the dead, it is usual for the relatives to visit the grave, and to recite selections from the Qurʾān. Those who can afford to pay Maulavīs, employ these learned men to recite the whole of the Qurʾān at the graves of their deceased relatives; and the Qurʾān is divided into sections to admit of its being recited by the several Maulavīs at once. During the days of mourning the relatives abstain from wearing any article of dress of a bright colour, and their soiled garments remain unchanged.
A funeral procession in Egypt is graphically described by Mr. Lane in his Modern Egyptians. We give the account as it contrasts strikingly with the simple processions of Sunnī Muḥammadans in India.
“The first persons are about six or more poor men, called ‘Yamanīyah,’ mostly blind, who proceed two and two, or three and three, together. Walking at a moderate pace, or rather slowly, they chant incessantly, in a melancholy tone, the profession of faith (‘There is no deity but God; Muhammad is God’s Apostle; God favour and preserve him!’). They are followed by some male relations and friends of the deceased, and, in many cases, by two or more persons of some sect of darweshes, bearing the flags of their order. This is a general custom at the funeral of a darwesh. Next follow three or four or more schoolboys; one of them carries a mus̤ḥaf (or copy of the Qurʾān), or a volume consisting of one of the thirty sections of the Qurʾān, placed upon a kind of desk formed of palm-sticks, and covered over, generally with an embroidered kerchief. These boys chant, in a higher and livelier voice than the Yamanīyah, usually some words of a poem called the Ḥashrīyah, descriptive of the events of the last day, the judgment, &c. The schoolboys immediately precede the bier, which is borne head-foremost. Three or four friends of the deceased usually carry it for a short distance; then three or four other friends bear it a little further; and then these are in like manner relieved. Casual passengers, also, often take part in this service, which is esteemed highly meritorious. Behind the bier walk the female mourners; sometimes a group of more than a dozen, or twenty; with their hair dishevelled, though generally concealed by the head-veil; crying and shrieking, as before described; and often, the hired mourners accompany them, celebrating the praises of the deceased. Among the women, the relations and domestics of the deceased are distinguished by a strip of linen or cotton stuff or muslin, generally blue, bound round the head, and tied in a single knot behind: the ends hanging down a few inches. Each of these also carries a handkerchief, usually dyed blue, which she sometimes holds over her shoulders, and at other times twirls with both hands over her head, or before her face. The cries of the women, the lively chanting of the youths, and the deep tones uttered by the Yamanīyah, compose a strange discord.
“The funeral procession of a man of wealth, or of a person of the middle classes, is sometimes preceded by three or four or more camels, bearing bread and water to give to the poor at the tomb, and is composed of a more numerous and varied assemblage of persons. The foremost of these are the Yamanīyah, who chant the profession of the faith, as described above. They are generally followed by some male friends of the deceased, and some learned and devout persons who have been invited to attend the funeral. Next follows a group of four or more faqīhs, chanting the ‘Sūratu ʾl-Anʿām’ (the VIth chapter of the Qurʾān); and sometimes, another group, chanting the ‘Sūratu Yā-sīn’ (the XXXVIth chapter); another, chanting the ‘Sūratu ʾl-Kahf’ (the XVIIIth chapter); and another chanting the ‘Sūratu ʾd-Duk͟hān’ (the XLIVth chapter). These are followed by some munshids, singing the ‘Burdah;’ and these by certain persons called ‘Aṣḥābu ʾl-Aḥzāb,’ who are members of religious orders founded by celebrated shaikhs. There are generally four or more of the order of the Ḥizbu ʾs-Sādāt, a similar group of the Ḥizbu ʾsh-Shāzilī, and another of the Ḥizbu ʾsh-Shaʿrāwī; each group chants a particular form of prayer. After them are generally borne two or more half-furled flags, the banners of one or other of the principal orders of darweshes. Then follow the school-boys, the bier, and the female mourners, as in the procession before described, and, perhaps, the led horses of the bearers, if these be men of rank. A buffalo, to be sacrificed at the tomb, where its flesh is to be distributed to the poor, sometimes closes the procession.
“The funeral of a devout shaikh, or of one of the great ʿUlamā, is still more numerously attended, and the bier of such a person is not covered with a shawl. A ‘walī’ is further honoured in his funeral by a remarkable custom. Women follow his bier, but, instead of wailing, as they would after the corpse of an ordinary mortal, they rend the air with the shrill and quavering cries of joy called ‘zaghārīt̤’; and if these cries are discontinued but for a minute, the bearers of the bier protest that they cannot proceed, that a supernatural power rivets them to the spot on which they stand. Very often, it is said, a ‘walī’ impels the bearers of his corpse to a particular spot. The following anecdote, describing an ingenious mode of puzzling a dead saint in a case of this kind, was related to me by one of my friends. Some men were lately bearing the corpse of a ‘walī’ to a tomb prepared for it in the great cemetery on the north of the metropolis, but on arriving at the gate called Bābu ʾn-Naṣr, which leads to the cemetery, they found themselves unable to proceed further, from the cause above-mentioned. ‘It seems,’ said one of the bearers, ‘that the shaikh is determined not to be buried in the cemetery of Bābu ʾn-Naṣr, and what shall we do?’ They were all much perplexed, but being as obstinate as the saint himself, they did not immediately yield to his caprice. Retreating a few paces, and then advancing with a quick step, they thought by such an impetus to force the corpse through the gateway; but their efforts were unsuccessful; and the same experiment they repeated in vain several times. They then placed the bier on the ground to rest and consult; and one of them, beckoning away his comrades to a distance beyond the hearing of the dead saint, said to them, ‘Let us take up the bier again, and turn it round several times till the shaikh becomes giddy; he then will not know in what direction we are going, and we may take him easily through the gate.’ This they did; the saint was puzzled as they expected, and quietly buried in the place which he had so striven to avoid.
“In the funerals of females and boys, the bier is usually only preceded by the Yamanīyah, chanting the profession of the faith, and by some male relations of the deceased; and followed by the female mourners; unless the deceased were of a family of wealth, or of considerable station in the world; in which case, the funeral procession is distinguished by some additional display. I shall give a short description of one of the most genteel and decorous funerals of this kind that I have witnessed: it was that of a young, unmarried lady. Two men, each bearing a large, furled, green flag, headed the procession, preceding the Yamanīyah, who chanted in an unusually low and solemn manner. These faqīrs, who were in number about eight, were followed by a group of fakīhs, chanting a chapter of the Qurʾān. Next after the latter was a man bearing a large branch of ‘Nabq’ (or lote-tree), an emblem of the deceased. On each side of him walked a person bearing a tall staff or cane, to the top of which were attached several hoops ornamented with strips of various coloured paper. These were followed by two Turkish soldiers, side by side, one bearing, on a small round tray, a gilt silver ‘qumqum’ of rose-water, and the other bearing, on a similar tray, a ‘mibk͟harah’ of gilt silver, in which some odoriferous substance (as benzoin, or frankincense) was burning. These vessels diffused the odour of their contents on the way, and were afterwards used to perfume the sepulchral vault. Passengers were occasionally sprinkled with the rose-water. Next followed four men, each of whom bore, upon a small tray, several small lighted tapers of wax, stuck in lumps of paste of ‘ḥinnā.’ The bier was covered with rich shawls, and its shāhid was decorated with handsome ornaments of the head, having, besides the ṣafā, a ‘quṣṣah almās’ (a long ornament of gold and diamonds worn over the forehead), and, upon its flat top, a rich diamond qurṣ. These were the jewels of the deceased, or were, perhaps, as is often the case, borrowed for the occasion. The female mourners, in number about seven or eight, clad in the usual manner of the ladies of Egypt (with the black silk covering, &c.), followed the bier, not on foot, as is the common custom in funerals in this country, but mounted on high-saddled asses; and only the last two or three of them were wailing; these being, probably, hired mourners. In another funeral procession of a female, the daughter of a Turk of high rank, the Yamanīyah were followed by six slaves, walking two by two. The first two slaves bore each a silver qumqum of rose-water, which they sprinkled on the passengers; and one of them honoured me so profusely as to wet my dress very uncomfortably; after which, he poured a small quantity into my hands; and I wetted my face with it, according to custom. Each of the next two bore a silver mibk͟harah, with perfume; and the other two carried a silver ʾāzqi (or hanging censer), with burning charcoal of frankincense. The jewels on the shāhid of the bier were of a costly description. Eleven ladies, mounted on high-saddled asses, together with several naddābahs, followed.”
BURNING THE DEAD. There is no express injunction, in either the Qurʾān or the Traditions, regarding the burning of dead bodies, although the burning of the living is strictly forbidden. For Muḥammad said, “Punish not with God’s punishment (which is fire), for it is not fit for anyone to punish with fire but God.” (Mishkāt, xiv. c. v. part 1.)
The teaching of the Traditions is that a dead body is as fully conscious of pain as a living body, for ʿĀyishah said, that the Prophet said, “The breaking of the bones of a corpse is the same as doing it in life.” (Mishkāt, v. c. vi. part 2.)
It is, therefore, pretty clearly established that cremation of the dead is strictly forbidden by the Muḥammadan religion. There is, however, nothing to confirm the impression that the burning of a corpse in any way prevents its soul entering paradise.
BURNING TO DEATH is strictly forbidden by Muslim law. ʿIkrimah relates that some apostates from Islām were brought to the K͟halīfah ʿAlī, and he burnt them; and when Ibn ʿAbbās heard of it, he said, “Had they been brought to me, I would not have burnt them; for the Prophet said, ‘Punish not with God’s punishment. Verily it is not fit for anyone to punish with fire but God.’ ” (Mishkāt, xiv. c. v. part 1.)