Sunday, November 16, 2008

Where will we be buried.?

One of the problems of Wangsa Maju Muslim resident is the lack of burial ground close enough to the "Town". And I have been told that once upon a time any deceased Muslim resident of Wangsa Maju may be buried at Taman Ibukota Muslim Cemetary (estimated to be about 5 km west of Wangsa Maju), Kuala Lumpur. And I have been told now that that cemetery is now full.

One of my neighbours died about half a year ago, and he was buried at the Muslim Burial Ground at Taman Selaseh (estimated to be about 10 km west of Wangsa Maju), Kuala Lumpur. And actually I don’t even know where Taman Selasih Muslim Cemetary is, and among us very few know where the place is I presume (correctly?).

What will actually happens when one Muslim dies in Wangsa Maju? If one has a kampung (viullage in the rural area), probably some kind relatives or even the children may like one to be buried in the kampung. So somehow they will try to get the deceased back to the kampung. But how many people want to or can be buried in the original kampung now? Not many, maybe 1% (I am just guessing) of the total Muslim population of Wangsa Maju. Many have left the kampung for so long now even the people in the kampung do not know who the person is. And most probably all relatives have already left the kampung, of have all deceased making one a stranger in the kampung.

Burial ground is one problem, but the stark reality is what happens when one dies. If one is the 'surau going' or 'mosque (masjid) going' type then maybe some kind soul from the surau or the mosque (masjid) will try to do their level best to sort matters out, say call the nearest mosque, (in the current case of Wangsa Maju it’s the Seri Rampai Masjid, about 2 km west of Wangsa Maju, but the new mosque at Wngasa Maju just opened, about 1 km away, has not officialy say what Muslim burial services can it give) and have the deceased body prepared for burial. But if one is a stranger to the surau or the masjid then one’s relatives will be in the dark as to know what to do and who to turn to in such difficult times. Even now many do not know who to turn to when a death occurs to any Muslim in Wangsa Maju. Isn’t it time that the residents have some sort of written procedures as what to do when death occurs to any of the Muslim population of Wangsa Maju.?

This is a mere provocative thought which may have already occurred in someone’s minds of some of the Muslim population of Wangas Maju but nobody have written anything about it to express the thought and how the problem may be resolved. This generation is already in a dilemma, what will happen to the next generation when death occurs to any Muslim of Wangsa Maju?


Muslims of Wangsa Maju are encouraged to post articles and recordings.

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