Death and Dying a Muslims Perspective

3. Help the couple prepare for Mrs. Thomas’s decline and death. This is a subject that must be approached gently and with a great deal of respect for the anguish and suffering the couple are facing. Assessing readiness for this subject requires compassionate waiting, and mindful listening. When and if the couple is ready to face Mrs. Thomas’s eventual death arrangements for her final days will

By definition, Islam is a religion of those who obey the doctrines of the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad, who in the 7th century lived in Arabia, initiated a religious movement that throughout the Middle East was supported by the Arabs. Today, not only in Middle East origins, Islam has adherents, where it is the dominant religion in all countries (Non-Arab, and Arab), but also in other parts of Africa, Asia and, of course, as well as in the United States. Those who are loyal to Islam are called Muslims. The Sunni, Shiite conflict in Iraq started long before the ruling of Saddam Hussein, but when Hussein became Prime Minister of the country the conflict between the two religious sects was taken to a new level. Right when Hussein gained full power, under his control, began years of persecution of the Shiite Muslims in the country. But, before this happened, the conflict was based upon Muhammad and who was to rule after he had died. When Muhammad had died there were many disputes on who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad after his death in 632. Shiites believed that the prophet’s son-in-law, Ali, was to be the successor. Both consider the Koran the word of God. But, devoutness and religious practice distinguish between the two sects. However, Islam teaches that all Islam is equal so Sunni and Shiite sects fight with each other not only because of “hatred” but, also because of religious

Earlier this year, DesiringGod.org founder Pastor John Piper wrote a blog entry explaining why Christians should bury instead of cremate their dead. However, he clarified that he aims to persuade believers to lean toward burial as a preference rather than a command, The Christian Post relays.

In the essay “The Embalming of Mr. Jones,” (1963), Jessica Mitford is describing a procedure of embalming of a corpse. She writes that people pay a ton of money each year, but “not one in ten thousand has any idea of what actually takes place,” and it is extremely hard to find books and any information about this subject. She assumes that it must be a reason for such secrecy, and may be if people knew more about this procedure, they would not want this service after their death.

The tone of Mitford’s essay “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” reflects her disapproval of the embalming process. To illustrate, she uses harrowing words like “subjected” and “gruesomeness” to convey a message of disgust and unease within the readers. It is good she wrote her essay in a simple and satiric way, so that it is very easy for the common man to read and comprehend it, while the comedy and horrible detail leaves the terrible imagery of the embalming procedures in one’s mind long after reading. Texts like this one, and ones similar to it are very important as society evolves. It would seem that many people would read this and it would greatly influence whether they would want their family members embalmed or even what they would desire

Dead?" AlterNet. In this article, Frankie Colmane looks into how dead bodies are treated in the United State even after Mitford's expose of the funeral industry was published. The article takes both a philosophical and scientific issue with the procedure of embalming sighting proven negative effects to human beings and the environment. Colmane shows that even though people are aware of the malfeasance and misappropriations of the funeral industry following pieces like Mitford's, very little has changed. Therefore problems that have been discussed in earlier works should not be forgotten. Rather they should be continually brought up until the issue is solved. During the 1800s, embalming became common practice because the dead family member would lie in state within the home for a period of days or weeks until it would be buried (Colmane 2010). The article shows the duplicity such as when "funeral directors were arguing forcefully against charges that their mediation between the living and the dead translated into social obstruction that barred the stricken from facing death with maturity, realism, and honest" (page 2). This article will be used to illustrate that things have not changed with funereal practices despite the publication of Mitford's essay.

The beneficiary was an 87 year old woman. She went to the doctor “… for the

As a student of funeral service, Reverence for the Dead is extremely important. I found this book interesting and it made me think a lot more about ethical practices. Todd Van Beck has been a wonderful teacher, but my time being his student has made me come to realize that he’s also a very good person. Todd Van Beck talks about very serious topics in this book from death, to funerals, to caring for the dead in a correct manner. Van Beck gives us his beliefs on the subjects along with beliefs of many well-known psychologists. The passage about Dr. Edgar N. Jackson (1910-1994) had a strong impression on me. I joined this career path because I believe in the importance of preparation, preservation, and beautification of the dead also. Dr.

Timothy E. Quill and Bernard Sussman. "Physician Assisted Death." The Hastings Center. N/A, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

I have read pages nine through twenty of our assigned book, Death and Dying in America. These few pages cover a variety of topics, mainly the history of how Western societies have handled death in the past.

When Roach wrote about memorials held in medical schools for the student’s cadavers, she explained the room to be “silent and somber” (39, Roach). This exposed the care and respect the medical students put into their cadavers. Along with this Roach goes on and explains other feelings the medical students had about their cadavers. Roach spoke of feelings of “gratitude” and of having “grown attached to their cadavers.” (38, Roach) These as well expresses towards to the reader of the admiration the cadavers are held due to their

The body is cleansed, washed thoroughly from head to toe (Taharah). The faces of the deceased are not allowed to face down out of respect for the deceased. The body is then dried, everything is done by the members of the Burial Society and they also dress the deceased in a

Because of the role it plays in the cultures of the past and how intriguing the comparison of those cultures to current ones is, the topic of burial rituals seems an interesting topic to research and learn more

As in Hindu customs, the location and direction of the body are specified in sacred and important texts. It is preferable to bury the corpse away from high traffic places like the synagogue to avoid health problems, as a corpse can defile an area as it is a “powerful source of impurity” (Kraemer, 2000, p.77). Altough this is the case now, Kraemer notes in ancient times people who had contributed to the synagogue such as high priests and rabbis were laid to rest in the synagogue, “if a person makes his life – his home – in the synagogue, he will have the merit of locating his eternal home there as well”. This change in preference of burial site is evident in the midrash as the earliest versions of the midrash stated that the body was to be buried

Margaret P. Battin’s “Euthanasia: The Way We Do It, the Way They Do It” discusses the occurrence and practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide in three first-world, industrialized, developed nations: The Netherlands, Germany, and the United States. All three of these countries have one important factor in common that makes them ideal for studying euthanasia: aging populations who primarily die of degenerative diseases, rather than parasitic or infectious diseases (Battin 579). In the United States, outright euthanasia is illegal. Rather, the accepted form of