Death and Dying Rituals in Islam Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Death and Dying Rituals in Islam - Term Paper good exampleIn this paper we would be discussing about(predicate) the third phase which pertains to death and afterlife. According to the Holy Koran, any person that dies would be judged by God and would receive their everlasting abode which could either be nirvana or Hell. According to Muslim traditions, after an individuals life comes to an end, the corpse has to be interred and hence elaborate religious rites involving the burying of the dead takes place when an individual is diseased. Death, according to Islam, is a passage from an earthbound existence, to a pure and eternal sacred realm. (Kassis 51) Muslims believe that only God is per worldly concernent while totally else perishes after a time. The Quran clearly states All that dwells upon the Earth is perishing, yet still abides the Face of thy ecclesiastic majestic and splendid. (Kassis 50) According to (Chittick 126) in Islam, an individual fails to fulfill his existence on the Earth, if they follow their own desires, outside(a)(a) the boundary of Divine structure. Thus, such a failure causes a problematic condition for the human. Shedding clean-living on this problematic condition, Streng states that human life that does not duplicate the eternal structure of meaning and distinguish as found in the Sacred Realm is merely a profane existence, characterized by weakness, ignorance, im virtuousness, and meaningless.(44).... he profane world is impure (46) In Islam, the different customs and rituals during the burial incorporate the concept of purity and impurity of the individuals existence. The ritual of ghusl according to Islamic culture is the preparation of the corpse for the mean solar day of resurrection. According to (Kassis 52), the corpse is washed an odd number of times to purify it from its earthly existence. During this ritual, a clear shroud is wrapped around the corpse, demonstrating that though all individuals lead different live s on this earth, yet they gift this world as equals. Islamic traditions view the impure nature of the world and are emphatic about purifying the individual before entering the Sacred Realm. (Streng 46) is of the opinion that the impure nature of the persons existence reflects the problematic condition he faces during judgment. F. Bird (35) discloses that the washing and purifying of the corpse according to the Islamic ritual in a regulative communicative manner symbolizes the washing ritual by the family members, to be the purification of the individual from the profane world and into eternal light. (Sacred Realm) Shedding light on the meaning of this ritual Bird states that partaking in this ceremony helps to reinforce the myths that surround it and reaffirm the beliefs they embody. (Bird 35) According to Islamic belief man is created in the image and likeness of God and represents and reflects varying degrees of light and darkness (131) based on the prize of their existence. Hum an existence is provided a special place in the universe because they are created by God. Islamic traditions believe that the structure of the universe is like a globe of infinite dimensions. The crust or outside shell is made of clay and is the visible universe