Each religion preaches its own attitude towards death, respectively, the customs and rituals of seeing off the dead and their funeral in each faith are different. Muslim religion was no exception. It has quite strict rules for the burial of the deceased, and certain requirements are put forward for Muslim monuments. What is allowed to be installed on the graves of Muslims, what can be depicted on their monuments, and what is strictly prohibited by the Quran and Sharia, we will consider in our article. For a good example, here are a few photos of Muslim monuments.
Muslim attitude to death
First of all, it is worth knowing that the Islamic religion has its own understanding of death. For a Muslim, his demise is not something terrible, and it cannot be unexpected. People of this religion perceive death as an inevitable phenomenon, and for the most part they are fatalistic about it. It is believed that a good Muslim, who during his lifetime belonged to Allah, returns to him after death. Sorry about this is prohibited.
Muslim funerals should be modest and restrained. Unlike Christians, it is not customary for Muslims to openly mourn and cry loudly. Only women and children are allowed to shed tears for the dead. Since after the death the deceased falls to Allah and is granted prosperity, it is forbidden to write sad words about the death of the deceased on Muslim monuments, regret and the promise to mourn him for a long time.
Modesty, devoid of all sorts of rich excesses
Almost all people who adhere to the Christian religion consider it a duty of honor to erect graves with worthy monuments to their near and dear ones. They erect huge granite structures, monuments on the graves, can erect statues in the form of angels and the deceased. Huge flower vases are mounted in the slabs; elegant fences and other structures are installed near the graves, for which relatives have enough imagination and, of course, material means.
People believe that, spending a lot of money on the construction of chic monuments, they express their love for the deceased person, demonstrate how important he was to them and how much they value him. Muslims believe that respect for the deceased should be shown in prayers for him, but not in the least a gorgeous monument erected on the grave. The Muslim monument in the cemetery should look modest, without frills and pathos. It has only one function - to indicate that a person is buried in this place.
The tradition of designating a burial place originates in one of the hadiths. It says that after the death of Usman ibn Mazun, the Prophet put a stone in the place of his burial and said that now he would know where his brother’s grave was. Also, the Koran forbidden to step on the graves and burial places of Muslims. Accordingly, monuments help to identify these places.
Valid text engravings
According to one version, the Prophet forbade to attach the graves of Muslims to something, to build something over them, as well as to cover them with plaster. It follows that it is also impossible to write inscriptions on Muslim monuments. Some scholars believe that these words about the inscriptions should not be taken as a ban, but as an extremely undesirable action. If, for example, the grave belongs to a well-known figure, righteous man or scientist, then designation on the grave of his name will be considered a good deed.
On the graves of ordinary Muslims, it is permitted to indicate the name of the deceased only to indicate them. Writing the date of death is undesirable (makruh), but allowed.
The question of whether it is possible to decorate the graves with inscriptions from the Koran or engrave the words of the Prophet on them is also controversial. Recently, such engravings in Muslim cemeteries are very common. But if we turn to history, it becomes clear that this is haram (sin). According to one of the hadiths, it is impossible to engrave the words of the Prophet, the surah and the ayah of the Qur'an, because over time, the graves can be flattened and will walk on them. The words of the Prophet can thus be defiled.
What should not be on Muslim monuments and graves
The grave of a true Muslim should be modest. The monument should not have inscriptions about the grief of relatives and friends. Placing a photograph of the deceased on the monument is also not worth it.
It is strictly forbidden to build crypts, mausoleums and tombs on the grave. Sharia forbids the construction of monuments that are too beautiful and demonstrate the wealth of relatives. It is believed that various monuments and lavishly decorated graves can cause quarrels between the dead. This will prevent them from enjoying the blessings granted by Allah after death.
For a long time, the mosque has allowed not only to write on the monuments the name of the deceased and the date of his death, now some symbols are allowed to be indicated. On men's monuments you can depict a crescent, and on women's monuments - flowers (their number means the number of children). Photos of Muslim monuments to the grave with such symbols are given in the article.
The shape of the monument and the materials from which they are made
Muslim monuments in the cemetery, photos of which can be seen in the article, are built, as a rule, from marble or granite. Often they are made in the form of a kind of arched structure, which at the top resembles a dome. Sometimes the top of the monument is made in the form of a dome of a mosque or in the form of a minaret.
Which direction should the monument face?
The question of which direction the monument should look is fundamentally important for Muslims. The grave must be constructed in such a way that it is possible to place the deceased in it, facing Mecca. This tradition should not be violated categorically, and the mosque is extremely strict in observing it.
Accordingly, the monument is installed only with the front side to the east. For this reason, in
Muslim cemeteries, all the monuments are facing only one way. Passing through these cemeteries, it is very easy to determine the direction. The eastern side is always where all the structures on the graves are facing.