Primary Funeral Guidance

Visit Alim Foundation website: www.alim.org Or, the website of a local preferred mosque.
Review “Primary Funeral Guidance” completely and familiarize yourself with overall funeral service/burial process that involves a mosque, a funeral home, and a cemetery.
The funeral homes and cemeteries are for profit businesses and cost a reasonable amount of money separately. These may demand cash.
Choose one person as a family spokesperson / decision maker to coordinate and resolve funeral and burial issues with Alim/mosque, funeral home, and/or cemetery.
Contact Alim, or the local mosque Imam or funeral service contact person for further information, and guidance.
The Alim or mosque funeral service contact person will counsel, explain, and guide the succeeding processes of engaging a mosque, a funeral home, and a cemetery.
Contact a funeral home and a cemetery following your discussion with a funeral service coordinator of Alim or mosque. Make earliest possible appointments with both organizations for completing their documentation and payments.
The description provided by Alim or mosque contact person will include further details of funeral service processes and procedures.. (refer also to: Complementary Funeral Guidance):

A Family Member and/or a Friend of Deceased - Spokesperson/ Decision maker
1. Choose one person as a family spokesperson to coordinate and resolve funeral and burial issues quickly. Assign one or two family members or friends to assist the family spokesperson in all the succeeding work.
2. Family should decide for a quick burial date and time, may be within twelve to twenty-four hours. Currently, in USA and specifically in metro Washington, DC area, it is being successfully practiced.
3. Contact a preferred funeral home to transport the deceased body from the location of its demise to funeral home to prepare the corpus for burial. Also, make an appointment for completion of their documents and payment.
4. Request “Death or Funeral Transportation Certificate,” from the hospital, hospice, or an appropriate authority in case the place of demise is different.
5. Assure readiness of this certificate through presence of a family member or friend on location of demise for release to the funeral home representative.
6. Contact the selected cemetery, make appointment for completion of paper work by announcing the date and time of your burial to the cemetery representatives.

Mosque Services
1. Alim or mosque representative will provide partial or full coordination with funeral home and cemetery services, when requested.
2. Mosque will assign a burial lot, if owned by mosque and desired by the family; prepare, and fax documents to cemetery, deliver a copy each to family member, and mosque treasurer.
3. Mosque will arrange and conduct Janazah prayer, when requested.

Funeral home representative will receive the “Death or Funeral Transportation Certificate” and transport the deceased body to funeral home, to mosque, and finally to cemetery.
Will wash the body of deceased with the help of family members and/or friends. (Refer to: Complementary Funeral Guidance.)
Will provide all necessary supplies e.g. soap, towel etc.
Prepare the coffin and wrap the departed body with coffin.
Transfer the deceased body into a temporary or permanent cascade as desired by the family.
Load the deceased body on Hurst for transportation.

Cemetery Services
1. Will provide selected burial site ready to receive the deceased body.
  1. Open (dig) the grave site.
  2. Position a liner inside the open site. This liner could be concrete, plastic, or any acceptable material in accordance with the law of the state.
2. Will assist in placement of body on dirt or with casket, inside the liner.
3. Provide enough dry dirt for use by the family and community members.
4. Placement of liner cover on the liner and fill-up of empty spaces by dirt to a desired height and shape.

Final supplication at the cemetery
1. By a family member, an Imam, or a community member in that order of priority.