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Prompt burial service
by Shaffaq Mohammed

The City Council’s Bereavement Service has launched a major information drive aimed at the Muslim community within Burngreave and across Sheffield.

The information pack in Urdu, Arabic, Somali, Bengali and English has been developed in co-operation with the Muslim Burial Forum (MBF).

Islamic law instructs that the burial should take place as soon as possible and in the past this has led to difficulties with current arrangements, especially during bank holidays and weekeneds.

The MBF is made up of representatives from Mosques across Sheffield, including Burngreave Road and Owler Lane Mosques. The Forum is chaired by Burngreave resident and Councillor Ibrar Hussain who has led the drive for improved services for the Muslim community in line with their religious obligations. Recent developments have included the introduction of weekend and Bank Holiday burials and the allocation of burial plots at City Road Cemetery. The MBF is currently working to extend the lease period of graves from 30 years to 99 years.

Mohammed Ali, chair of the Pakistan Muslim Centre and MBF member recently met with senior managers from Northern General Hospital and representatives from South Yorkshire Muslim Patients Association to work with staff to handle deaths within the Muslim community more sensitively. Mohammed is at pains to point out the religious obligation state that Muslims have to be buried as soon as possible rather than within 24 hours as some health and local authority officers continue to believe and work to.

The information pack, available from Bereavement Services, contains step-by-step details for relatives of the deceased to follow and guidance on the information required from the hospitals and GPs, to allow the funeral to take place as soon as possible.