Issues related to death and entombment customs vary from one religion to the other and would vary from culture to the other. Before modernization, some communities believed in life after death, a belief that is still held in modern society among some cultures and religions. It is factual that all religions, as well as cultures, respected their dead and accorded them a dignified burial. In the Egyptian religion and culture, where civilization started, the bodies of the dead were embalmed in order to preserve the spirit and prepare the deceased for a new life. In the ancient Christian regions, the believers had faith that the dead would live after passing away and would therefore bury their deceased relatives and friends in a dignified way. Among the local communities that practiced traditional religions, the dead would be buried with some material possessions hoping that they would use the materials even after death. It should be noted that cultures keep on changing meaning that religion is transient and might have changed greatly depending on socio-economic and political developments (Johnston, 1999).
In the modern world, the Catholic religion views death as a rite of passage from physical life to spiritual life. In other words, an individual acquires the promised life after death. This would mean that the spirit of the dead body is destined to three places: hell, heaven, or purgatory. At some point in the existence of the universe, the bodies of the dead will be resurrected and each person will be judged according to his or her deeds. As regards funeral service, the Catholics have one of the sophisticated services popularly referred to as the Mass of the Resurrection. At the funeral service, the faithful are requested to remember the death of the first Christian, Jesus Christ, and relate the same to the death of the relative or friend. This paper aims at comparing the funeral practices of the Catholics and those of other religions, particularly the Jewish religion, and Islamic religion.
Islam is considered the world’s number two most popular religion. It is estimated that 1.5 billion people practice Islamic cultures and traditions. The religion is based on the teachings of Prophet Mohammed who is believed to have lived in 600 AD. Islam is a word coined from aslama meaning submission of oneself to God. All over the world, Islamic believers think that God blessed Mohammed with a holy book referred to as Quran, which contains all laws and regulations that must be followed, including the laws related to burying the dead. Apart from the holy book, Muslims believe in Sunnah, which are the words and the acts of the final prophet, Mohammed. Sunnah and the holy book are the major sources of Islamic teaching in modern society. It is surprising that Islamic traditional practices are usually applied in burying the dead instead of following the teachings of the Koran. This is based on the belief that the soul is usually separated from the body immediately an after individual dies. Therefore, the body is considered a waste product and should be disposed of before twenty-four hours. This is a different case among the Catholics who believe that the body could be preserved as long as the family would wish. Just like Catholics, Muslims believe that death signifies the end of life on earth but not the spiritual world. This means that the dead person can still live but only in the spiritual world. In fact, for an individual to enjoy eternal life, death is inevitable.
Unlike in the Catholic traditions where friends and family members are allowed to mourn their dead through all means, Islamic culture discourages excessive demonstration of emotional meaning that friends and relatives are to remain calm even after losing their beloved one. Relatives and friends are encouraged to pray for the dead and start burial arrangements right away. Since burial would follow immediately after death, the dead body is never disturbed. The religion allows autopsies but those undertaking it must respect and honor the dead person. Immediately after death, relatives and friends are permitted to treat the body and ensure that it is decent. The same practice is allowed among Catholics. Relatives need to ensure that the eyes of the deceased are closed and his or her body is to be covered using a clean piece of cloth. Among the Islamic believers, the dead person is to be cleaned and should be enshrouded in a clean piece of cloth commonly referred to as the Kafan. After cleaning, relatives present the body to the place of prayer, ready for burial. This does not take place inside the mosque, as is the case with Catholics, whereby the dead person is brought to the Church for prayers. The Imam or the head of the prayer performs some form of ritual. This is done while facing the opposite direction.
Unlike the Catholic religion, which allows all members of society to attend the requiem mass, the Islamic religion does not permit children and women to attend the burial exercise. Only male members are allowed to lay the dead to rest while facing Mecca but without a coffin. Such tradition is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic religion. For Catholics, the dead person must be buried with a coffin and the burial ceremony is open to each person. Islamic religion does not allow the laying of flowers to the grave but instead, mourners can lay tombstones, as they continue praying for the dead person. Islamic religion shares one thing with the Catholic, which is allowing mourners to visit bereaved families. However, during the three-day mourning period among Muslims, relatives, and friends are encouraged to keep off from ostentatious clothing and jewelry. For the widow, she should extend the mourning period by four months and ten days. During such a period, she should never wear attractive clothes. Moreover, the widow is not allowed to remarry or engage in any form of relationship with another man. The Catholic has a different view regarding the interaction of the widow after the death of her husband.
The Jewish religion is a different form of religion that shares very little with the two modern world religions that are, Islam and Catholicism. Judaism is believed to be a covenantal association between Israelites and God. Many scholars of religion think that Judaism is a monotheistic form of religion, which is the oldest system of belief. It should be remembered that the teachings of Judaism have influenced the growth of Christianity and Islam in many ways, even though the three religions are different. In the Jewish belief system, all members of society approve not all principles and rules. The society among the Jewish people only accepted those laws that were common to every person, not those formulated by one individual as in the case of Islam and Catholicism. The Jewish religion insists on the performance of good deeds and avoidance of evil instead of trying to follow a rigid, biased, and deformed set of laws. In the Jewish religion, various communities have their own belief systems. However, most communities have similar burial and funeral practices (Hadot, 1995).
Just like the Islam religion, the Jewish religious law encourages friends and routines to dispose of their dead immediately after death or before twenty hours. However, the Jewish religion gives some exceptions, particularly when relatives and friends of the deceased are to travel long distances to attend the burial ceremony. Just like the Catholic religion, the Jewish religion allows the local religious members to control the burial arrangements. However, the Jewish religion is more organized in terms of arranging burial ceremonies as opposed to the Catholic, which would depend on the willingness of individual members. The Jewish culture has what they call the Chevra Kaddisha, which is charged with the responsibility of preparing the body for burial and offering security to the body. The burial ceremony is influenced by the position and gender of the deceased. This means that burial ceremonies for children, women, men, and old persons are different. Each family member is supposed to play his or her role during the burial ceremony, as espoused in the funeral traditions and rituals. Before the burial ceremony, family members are engaged in a serious tearing session, whereby they tear garments to symbolize the loss of the beloved one in the family. This is usually referred to as Keriah.
Jewish culture and Catholic traditions are similar when it comes to reciting psalms before a burial discourse. This is referred to as Hesped in the Jewish culture. Additionally, a Jewish burial prayer referred to as Kaddish is usually recited before laying the dead to rest. Unlike Islam, the Jewish culture allows relatives and family members to bury their dead with a casket. Unlike Catholics, only male mourners are permitted to carry the coffin followed by the rest of the mourners. Even though this culture is not similar to Islamic cultures, it shares something in common, which is related to the rules governing age and gender during burial ceremonies. Jewish culture only allows family members to bury their dead but not to cremate since such practice is considered a desecration of the dead. For burial purposes, the dead is to be buried in a simple coffin while dressed in a white shroud referred to as Tachrichim. After the burial ceremony, mourners must wash their hands and start a yearlong mourning ceremony. However, the widow is not restricted to mingling with other members of society, including men (Gonzalez, 2010).
Alternatively, catholic funeral culture holds that the body of the deceased person would one day be raised when Jesus comes. For those who are saved, their bodies are glorified once they die. The bodies of the deceased are awarded maximum respect and they are not supposed to be cremated. However, the family might choose to cremate the body of their loved one in case the deceased left a will requesting cremation or if the customs of the church contradict those of the deceased culture. In the Catholic culture, burying the dead is not just meant to dispose of the body. It pertains to caring for the person even after passing on. Catholics are frequently reminded during burial that the body is not simply an empty shell but it contains the soul of the deceased. Since the soul is absent at the time of burial, it does not mean the body is useless. The soul would reclaim the body one day hence it is important to dispose of it an orderly way. Catholics quote John 11:17 whereby the Holy Spirit identified the body of Lazarus by name. The Holy Ghost communicated with Lazarus alone meaning that the body still belongs to an individual even after death. Another example is given in the Catholic religion, which is related to the anointing of the body of Jesus after the crucifixion. When Mary Magdalene found out that the body of Jesus had disappeared, she grieved in pain knowing that Jesus had disappeared and not his body. When the body of Jesus was beaten, people were angry since they knew that it was a dishonor to the human being. By dishonoring the body of Jesus, Mary Magdalene interpreted it to mean ignominy to Jesus Christ, who was the messiah. In John 20:13, Magdalene complained that they had taken her messiah and she wondered where they had taken him. Unlike other religions, Catholic culture demands that the remains of the deceased must be buried even after the cremation.
In the Islamic culture, the relationship between the dead and the living ends after immediately an individual die. However, this is a different case in the catholic culture. The Catholics pray for their dead hoping they are in purgatory and in turn request the dead to pray for them. Immediately a family loses the loved one, the first step is to inform the priest, unlike the Islamic religion, which demands that the family organizes for a burial. Even though it is not necessary, an individual can inform a funeral home in case special treatment to the body is needed. Catholics believe that if the deceased is awarded respect, the bereaved family can feel a sense of relief.
In the Catholic funeral culture and tradition, an individual family member can take their dead to the church or the parish for a requiem mass service. In some parts of the world, the funeral service is left at the hands of the bishop, who would be reluctant to allow traditional sacraments. In catholic still, the living are allowed to eulogize the dead after death. However, those Catholics holding traditional mass services are not allowed to eulogize their dead. The issue of eulogizing the dead has led to serious problems in the Catholic Church. Eulogy in its sense means the high praise to an individual. The problem emerges particularly when the dead was never considered wonderful and was sinful. Such an individual should be criticized even after death but it would be unethical and shameful to talk evil about the dead. Alternatively, it would be a sin to lie in a church that an individual was righteous yet he or she was not. The traditional Catholics believe that eulogizing would be dangerous since it would demoralize the living who knew that an individual was sinful. Traditional Catholic culture never entertained eulogies since they would mislead the believer to think that hell and purgatory do not exist. Some individuals would request their relatives to play some kind of music that is not consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Church usually resists this. The same is the same as both Islam and Jewish cultures, which do not encourage eulogies. In fact, there is some sense in this because it would be unethical to praise an individual yet he or she was a sinner (Goleman, 1986).
Unlike the two religious cultures, Catholic culture has three major funeral services, which include the vigil often referred to as the Wake, the Requiem Mass, and the Burial, as well as after burial meeting. However, the three major parts of funeral service only apply to adults. This is compared to the funeral service of the Jewish culture, which respects age and gender. Children’s funeral services are different since underage children are believed to go straight to heaven since they would not have sinned against any one. In the funeral mass of children, the high priest is not required to wear a white dress. In the modern Catholic culture, the vigil takes place at the home of the deceased, unlike in the past whereby it took place in a parish, church, or chapel. During the vigil service, the relatives and friends of the deceased gather around the body probably to pray for it, as well as to remember the happy moments. At the same time, the bereaved would have some good time to console each other. At the vigil ceremony, attendants are issued with some form of a card indicating the symbol of the Catholic Church, the prayer and the name/birth of the deceased. This kind of service is not present in the two religions discussed before. The vigil ceremony could perhaps last for up to two days where the casket is to be kept open with candles in both ends (Nelson, 1991).
All individuals attending the funeral service in the catholic culture need to dress decently. This is not a requirement in the Islamic culture, though it is also considered a virtue in the Jewish culture. For Catholics, the dressing code is clear, which is a black dress. For the Jewish culture, the dressing code is not clearly defined. In the Catholic culture, mourners should show sympathy and affection to the bereaved. This kind of behavior is highly discouraged in the Islamic culture since mourners should rejoice, hoping that dead has taken his or her place in heaven. Furthermore, Muslims would even rejoice more when an individual is killed in war.
Funeral services are always respected among various religious affiliations. The dead are always awarded maximum respect and honor because it is believed that there is life after death. In the Islamic culture, the dead body is to be disposed immediately just after death but in the Jewish culture, the body could be preserved for a few days, especially when all family members are not around. In the three religious cultures, cremation is never allowed. The dead should be buried in accordance to the religious values to show a sign of respect and honor. In the Jewish culture, the dead are respected, just as in the Catholic culture. However, the dead is not valued much in the Islamic culture. This is signified by the immediate disposal of the body.
References
Goleman, D (1986). Vital Lies, truths. New York: Touchstone.
Gonzalez, J. (2010). The Story of Christianity, New York: HarperCollins.
Hadot, P. (1995). Philosophy as a way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault. Oxford: Blackwell.
Johnston, W. (1999). Recent Reference Books in Religion: A Guide for Students, Scholars, Researchers, Buyers, & Readers. New York: Routledge.
Nelson, B. (1991). On the Roads to Modernity: Conscience, Science, and Civilizations. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc.