Requirements After Death

We all have to die one day. There are certain procedures which need to be followed after a death in the UK. Please note, to enable the burial to take place as quickly as possible we need to comply with the formalities of the law of this country, which requires that the death is certified and registered. These formalities (summarised below) are extracted from the official document What to do after a death in England and Wales.

"Every human being is bound to taste death" (3:185)

The following information has been provided from the Hendon mosque & islamic centre website.

Introduction

Muslim law and tradition have endowed a Muslim's funeral with profound religious significance and it should, in every respect , express the dignity, sanctity and modesty of a solemn religious service.

The five stages that follow the death of a Muslim are:

  1. The final bathing (ghusl) of the deceased - tajheez.
  2. The shrouding (kafan) of the deceased - takfeen.
  3. The funeral prayers - janazah salah.
  4. The funeral procession - carrying the bier to the grave.
  5. The burial of the deceased - tadfeen.

It is very important to complete the above stages as quickly as possible, for Rasulullah (saw) has emphasised:

"Make haste at a funeral; if the dead person was good, it is a good state to which you are sending him on; but if he was otherwise it is an evil of which you are ridding yourselves."

Even if the person dies on a Friday, the scholars have stated,

"it is better to make all arrangements and bury the deceased before Jumu'ah salah" and that "delaying the funeral with the thought that there will be more participants after jumu'ah is undeseriable".

Moreover, the blessings and forgiveness for the deceased that will be acquired by adhering to the command of Rasulullah (saw) is more worthy then delaying the janazah salah, even with the possibility that more participants may attend.

Sharee'ah has also prohibited the delaying of the burial on account of a certain relative being overseas and this person's inability to arrive quickly, for example, due to the unavailbility of a flight.

Regardless of our islamic obligations we must still comply with the formalities and laws of this country. 

The Medical Certificate

If the death occurs in hospital, the hospital will give a Medical Certificate showing the cause of death or refer it to a coroner if the cause is uncertain or questioned. The body is kept in the hospital mortuary until the executor arranges for the body to be taken away. If the death occurs at home, the GP is the first person to contact who will verify the death. If the GP is unavailable, his her cover will attend, verify the death and authorise the body to be removed to a public mortuary. If the cause of death is clear and the death has been expected, the GP would be able to give a Medical Certificate, which you have to take to the town hall to register the death and obtain a Death Certificate and a Burial Certificate.  

Registration of Death

Regardless of whether a death occurs, in hospital or at home, it must be registered with the Registrar of Births and Deaths within 5 days. Typically this will be situated in your nearest Town Hall but you can find your nearest Registrar either online or searching in the local yellow pages. 

The Registrar will need a Medical Certificate and information about the deceased. i.e. date and place of birth, date and place of death, maiden name if a married woman, former occupation and NHS medical card (if you cannot find this, do not worry, just explain to the Registrar). The Registrar will give a Burial Certificate (green colour), which should be handed to the funeral director. You will also be given a copy of the Death Certificate to be used when and where needed.

Post Mortem

If the death is sudden, or its cause is uncertain there will be a post-mortem. The deceased will be removed by a funeral director to a hospital where an autopsy will be carried out to establish the cause of death. If the cause of the death was known to be a natural illness, but the doctors wish to know more about the cause of death, they may ask the relatives for permission to carry out a medical examination of the body (i.e. post-mortem) to find out more about the cause of death. Islam does not permit post-mortems in this instance and no such permission should be given. If the death follows illness from HIV or AIDS there may be special rules about handling the body.

If the cause of death is natural the coroner will issue a Death Certificate (Form 100 - pink).

If the cause is not natural, an inquest is required but the coroner WILL issue the Order for Burial (Form 101). In the meantime and later, after the cause of death has been established, will send a Certificate After Inquest (Form 99) to the Registrar to register the death and issue the death certificate.

In the event of a death, if you are unsure about what to do, there is always an option to call 999

 

Pass it on

We hope the information on this page will be helpful and come in handy. Kindly inform everyone about this information because someday we may have to deal with such a situation and should be familiar with the process.