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September 19, 2021

Rules for the burial of the body among the Tatars

Each nation has its own customs and traditions of burial of the deceased. The Tatars profess Islam, which means that the funeral ceremony of the Tatars takes place according to Muslim customs. This event is attended not only by the family of the deceased, but also by close relatives and neighbors. Each of them has its own role in organizing a person’s last journey.

The general order of funerals among Tatars: features

It is customary for Muslims to prepare for death during their lifetime. Elderly people often save necessary items for this case, even save secret savings from their pensions.

So that the younger members of the family: children and daughters-in-law do not miss anything important, they are periodically told about how the funeral is held among the Tatars and what needs to be taken care of. Relatives try to take these instructions into account when an elderly chelochek departs to another world. For example, an elderly person can tell himself who to give what saadaka to, who to let in for washing the body and how to thank them for it. Saadaka is an Arabic word that denotes a small gratuitous gift in Islam.

However, in life, it is not uncommon for young people to die. In this case, the funeral of the Tatars is subject to generally accepted customs.

Funeral preparations

If a person is seriously ill in his home and his death is likely, then he is not left alone day and night. According to the Islamic religion, every Muslim experiences the death agony before death – this is the torment of leaving the soul of the body. The agony can last from a few minutes to several days. At this time, it is important to have a person who can read surahs from the Koran nearby. It is believed that this facilitates the emission of the soul.

In the throes of agony, a person experiences thirst. It is necessary to moisten his lips with a damp towel or napkin. Otherwise, he can drink water from the hands of the demon of death, which is considered unacceptable for a Muslim. If the agony is strong, surahs from the Koran are read continuously, and it is customary to observe silence in the house. At the moment of the soul’s exit from the body, a special sura is also read – “Ar Rad”, “Thunder” or the greatest sura of Islam – “Yasin”.

This is practiced at funerals among the Crimean Tatars and other Muslim peoples.

After that, they put the person in the correct position: close the eyelids, remove the pillow from under the head and put a towel, align the arms and legs. The legs are sometimes bandaged so that the feet remain connected, the hands are folded along the body. After that, the person who read the prayer goes out into the courtyard and states the fact of death. From this moment, the family members begin to prepare.

What should be taken into account in Muslim funeral customs? Neighbors, relatives and other people who knew the deceased should not wait for an invitation to the funeral. It is considered good form to come to the house of the deceased as soon as it becomes known about his death and offer your help in organizing the funeral.

The preparatory processes are carried out in several directions:

  • Preparation of the deceased;
  • Preparation of the grave;
  • Purchase of mandatory attributes;
  • Caring for the relatives of the deceased.

Let’s consider each item in detail.

Preparation of the deceased

The deceased is placed on a hard surface in the middle of the room, a towel is placed on his head, the body is covered with a cloth, the face remains open. The headboard should be facing the Kaaba – the sacred stone of Muslims in Mecca. Scissors or any metal object are placed on the chest of the deceased. This is an old Tatar belief, according to which evil spirits do not approach metal. Mirrors in the house are hung with dark matter.

Funerals of Muslim Tatars and traditions prohibit the following:

  • Loud wailing and lamentation;
  • What do the Tatars say at funerals? Prohibitions are important here: those sitting near the deceased should not talk about worldly things;
  • Loud laughter is prohibited;
  • The use of alcoholic beverages;
  • Women-to be without a headdress;
  • Eat up the family of the deceased and burden them with worries;
  • You can not carry flowers to the funeral of the Tatars. Wearing both live and artificial flowers is considered heresy in Islam.

At the funeral of Muslim Tatars, guests who come to say goodbye to the deceased can, if desired, approach the body and say kind words. While people come to say goodbye to a person, in another room women sew a “kafan” – a special garment made of white cloth.

The kafan is sewn from a shroud-a white cloth of at least 15 meters. It must be sewn by hand, the stitches must be without knots. The kafan for men consists of a shirt and an apron, for a woman they additionally sew a scarf to cover her hair.

Muslim funerals among the Tatars suggest burial in the near future.  According to Islam, the soul of the deceased should be in the other world as soon as possible. But as long as his body is on the ground, he cannot go far away from his body. Therefore, if a person died early in the morning, then they try to bury him in the afternoon. If he died at night, it is desirable to bury him in the first half of the next day.

Exceptions can be made if one of the relatives of the deceased is traveling from another country, and the deceased really wanted to see this person before his death. In this case, the funeral may be postponed for some time. But after the expected person has arrived, he is given a few minutes to say goodbye, then the body is taken away for burial.

What do Tatars wear to funerals?  According to Sharia, it is unacceptable to wear special dark clothing for funerals. The clothes of loved ones in general do not matter. If some locality has its own customs in this regard, then this is only a formality. A mandatory condition for Islam is covering the head.

The ritual of washing the dead

Ritual ablution is carried out in accordance with the customs of funerals among the Tatars. And they obey the prescriptions of the religion of Islam. According to Islam, at least three people must be present when washing the body.

When washing a woman, her body is covered with a thin cloth, men’s genitals are covered. The water for ablution should be warm. Do not put a bucket of water on the floor, use a wooden stand or a towel. Surahs from the Koran are read into the water. You can add plants or herbs with a pleasant aroma to it.

The rules of burial among the Tatars recommend that washing people use gloves or mittens so that their hands do not touch the body of the deceased. Water is drawn from a bucket and poured three times, first on the right side of the body, then on the left. Then they wash their hair and ears. The use of shampoos, soaps and other means depends on the condition of the body. If a person has died of an illness, skin or hair comes out of him, then a thorough ablution is not necessary. In this case, dousing with water is considered sufficient. Elderly people often buy their favorite soap for ablution, Muslim spirits without alcohol content and other incense for this occasion during their lifetime.

After ablution, the body is dressed in a kafan. To move, use a special wooden stretcher – “tobut”. The Tobut is kept in the mosque. Before being sent to the grave, a Janaza is read out – a prayer with the participation of men. The mullah reads special surahs from the Koran. At the end of the prayer, he addresses the audience and asks if the deceased had debts to any of the members of this society? If someone answers yes, then one of the relatives of the deceased takes over the payment of debts. The body is delivered to the grave by transport or without, if the cemetery is nearby.

Women do not participate in the burial process. They do not go to the cemetery, they accompany the deceased to the door of the house. Funerals for Tatar women and funerals for Tatar men have no fundamental differences. The only difference is in the process of ablution. If the deceased is a man, then men wash him, if a woman, then only women participate in the process. In exceptional cases, it is allowed to wash the body of the wife by the husband or the body of the husband by the wife.

Preparing the grave

The funerals of the Tatars and the graves are different from the Christians. Usually this is a three-meter recess with a side niche. The body is placed in a side niche. It has a window, which is covered with a brick after the deceased is placed. The surface in the grave niche is laid out with brick or adobe-dry hay. Muslims are buried without a coffin. In some cases, wooden boxes without a lid are used to the full height of a person.

The funeral rite among the Tatars involves digging the grave by gravediggers – these can be employees of a ritual company or employees of a cemetery. A freshly dug grave is not left for a minute. If there is a need to move away, then an axe or a shovel is thrown at him – it is believed that the presence of metal scares off the settlement of the grave by unclean spirits.

According to the funeral traditions of the Tatars, the body is lowered into the grave with its feet down. Several men descend into the grave to place the body tightly in the niche. The head of the body should be in the direction of the Kaaba. In some localities, burial in a sitting position is practiced. It is believed that this situation makes it easier for the deceased to pass the questioning of Angels in the grave.

How do the funerals of Muslim Tatars take place after the burial of the body? After placing the bodies of the men leave the grave, the mullah reads the surahs from the Koran and first throws a handful of earth. Then water is sprinkled into the grave. This is a symbolic act of extinguishing the hellfire that threatens every sinful Muslim. Then each of the participants of the funeral procession throws a handful of earth. After that, the gravediggers quickly bury the grave, collecting the earth in a high hill above it. At the end of the burial, the surah from the Koran is read again and the men leave without looking back. If desired, the relatives of the deceased can stay at the grave for a while to read a prayer for the repose of the soul.

Memorial events

There are memorial days for the Tatars after the funeral. The first memorial meal is held on the 3rd day, then on the 40th, on the 52nd day and the last one – a year after the death of a person. Relatives, friends and neighbors of the deceased gather at the wake. The treats include noodle soup, pastries, dried fruits and other halal food. It is strictly forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages at funerals. Also, Muslims do not carry or eat food at the cemetery.

A year after the death of a person, a monument or fence is placed on the grave. It is customary to write the date of birth, the date of death of a person and a surah from the Koran on tombstones. Subsequently, the deceased relatives are commemorated on the general Muslim holidays-Eid al-Adha and at the beginning of the fast Ramadan in the general order. The relatives of the deceased pray for him after each prayer – 5 times a day.

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