WHEN MY GRANDMA DIED ............ The Funeral Processes of Muslim Dagombas in Ghana Pt. 1

By Ahmed Abdul-Hanan Deeshini

This is the sequel of the post on my 'Lessons from Death and the thought of dying'. This piece will give insight on the traditional burial and funeral processes of the Muslim Dagomba. I will try however to compare it with the processes and practices of the non-Muslim Dagomba, when I can. This is dedicated to my grandmother, Hajia Barikisu Mahama, may her soul rest in peace, whose death has taught me so much. And another special person from whom I have had to learn a lot about death and the pain accompanying it, whether I liked it or not. It is this special person who has inspired me to write this piece. She lost her father, may he find peace in God.

Funerals in Islam (called Janazah in Arabic) follow fairly specific rites, though they are subject to regional interpretation and variation in custom. In all cases, however, sharia (Islamic religious law) calls for burial of the body, preceded by a simple ritual involving bathing and shrouding the body, followed by salat (prayer).

In the early hours of Friday the 17^th of January, we set out to prepare for the burial of my grandmother . In the course of the night, I, together with my uncle drafted a message to announce on radio about the death of our beloved. This has become a norm in modern times to allow families and friends who are far away  to get the news in time for the burial. In the past, messengers were sent around every corner where families and friends lived. Sometimes it took days for all friends and family to be informed about the tragic event. In some places, some of these people are so important that they might have to wait for them to come before the body is buried.

I went round to about four radio stations to pay for the announcements to be aired. While we were going round to break the unpalatable news to family and friends, some women gathered the belongings of the dead to a nearby stream or river to wash. Dagombas believe that if the clothes of the dead are not washed, anyone who wears it will die. This is not an Islamic practice but Muslim Dagombas do it anyway, without any religious backing. This even though is superstitious, I believe our forefathers did not pen down the rule for nothing.  I believe this rule came up because people once commonly died of infectious diseases and so the popular imagination linking dead people’s clothes with death, or contagion, which most likely might be the case. The clothes are washed in the stream or river for the same reason (to avoid contagion).

Then comes the bathing of the dead, which forms the major part of the burial process.  The processes differ among the Muslims and non-Muslims. Among the non-Muslims, when someone dies,  the most elderly of the household are called to come and see the dead body. Here, it is not a practice to announce that someone is dead until all the elders see the body. This is based on the Dagbanli proverb  ‘Nin yini bi nyeri so bugum’  to wit, one eye does not see the sparks of the witch/wizard which can comfortably be related to the ‘seeing is believing’ English proverb.  People go into the room where the body is laid, one at a time to see for themselves and silently go outside and take a sit. Once all the elders of the family and community have seen for themselves and confirmed the death, a town crier is tasked to announce the death, in the case of a chief. However, if it is an ordinary citizen, emissaries are sent far and near to break the news of the death to relations and friends. When they announce the death of a person they say that ‘we have been sent to come and tell you that so-so-and-so is absent.

An Undertaker, known in Dagbanli as “Kasigra”  is invited to bath the dead, but before the kasigri goes into the room where the body is laid, he goes behind the window and shouts, ‘Doo be duu”?,  which is meant to ask the body if it is in the room. Now if the dead person responds, “Doo pal mi”, it means the kasigri can’t bath and perform the burial, but if the dead person is quiet, then it means the kasigri wields more power than the dead. This is done only when the dead person is a chief or a person with magical power.

The kasigri now enters into the room with the hot water and a calabash for fetching the water. This is done with the children or spouse of the dead person. The person is then shrouded in a locally made white cloth and taken away for burial. Before the introduction of weaving, teak leaves were used in burying the dead. It was called kornamgbandi  .

Things were done differently with my grandmother, because we are Muslims. In Islam, burial rituals should normally take place as soon as possible and include:

[1] Bathing the dead body,Except in extraordinary circumstances as in battle of Uhud.

[2]Enshrouding the dead body in a white cotton or linen cloth

[3] Funeral prayer ( Janaza).

[4]Burial of the dead body in a grave.

[5] Positioning the deceased so that the head is faced towards Mecca.

Bathing the Dead Body

The purpose of bathing the body is to physically cleanse the corpse. This is however done in the same way as Ghusl, the ritual bath. Bathing the dead body is an essential ritual of the Sunnah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and therefore a part of the Islamic Sharia. This occurs as soon as possible after death, preferably within hours. My grandmother was bathed in accordance with orthodox practice which is to wash the body an odd number of times (at least once) with a cloth hiding parts of the body that should be hidden according to Islamic laws.

Those who bath the dead are commonly adult members of the immediate family and mostly of the same gender as the deceased.

Enshrouding the Deceased

The corpse is typically wrapped in a simple plain cloth, usually white. This is done to respect the dignity and privacy of the deceased. The specifics of this ritual, including the material, style, and color of the cloth, may vary across regions. However, the shroud should be simple and modest. It is for this reason that Muslims have generally preferred to use white cotton cloth to serve as the shroud. Men may use only three pieces of cloth and women five pieces of cloth. Some perfume may be applied to the cloth as well.

Funeral prayer

The funeral prayer, known as Ṣalāt al-Janāzah is  performed in congregation to seek pardon for the deceased and all dead Muslims. The prayer is a collective obligation upon Muslims i.e., if some Muslims take the responsibility of doing it, the obligation is fulfilled, but if no-one fulfils it, then all Muslims will be accountable. In performing the prayer, the congregation is divided into odd rows with one person as an Imam standing alone in front and while facing in the direction of Qiblah. The body is placed in front of the Imam. However, if there is more than one body, then these should be put one in front of the other. The spoken part of the prayer involves quietly reciting Al-Fatiha (the opening verse of the Holy Quran), then praying for God to bestow peace, mercy and blessings upon the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and finally saying two du'as (prayers).

Burial

The exact manner, customs and style of the grave, the burial and so forth I am told varies by regional custom. However, the grave should be aligned perpendicular to the Qibla (i.e. Mecca). The body is placed in the grave without a casket, lying on its right side, and facing the Qibla.

Three fist-sized spheres of hand-packed soil (prepared beforehand by the people who accompanied the dead) are used as props, one under the head, one under the chin and one under the shoulder. The lowering of the body, and positioning of the soil-balls is supposed to be done by the next of kin or the eldest child. In the case of a departed husband, the male brother or brother-in-law usually performs this task. In the case of a departed wife, the husband undertakes this (if physically able). If the husband is elderly, then the eldest male son (or son-in-law) is responsible for lowering, alignment and propping the departed.  However, given the close knitted relationship of Dagombas, after the next of kin, other family members and friends take turns to fill the grave. More prayers are then said, asking for forgiveness of the deceased, and reminding the dead of their profession of faith.

Many times graves may be unmarked, or marked only with a simple wreath. However, it is becoming more common for family members to erect grave monuments, as in the case of my grandmother.

The funeral procession then goes back home and dates are given for the funeral ceremony.