Death rituals in Brazil’s Muslim communities

Abstract

Religious conceptions and rituals surrounding death occupy an important dimension in Islamic tradition. They are channels through which Muslims in different historical and cultural contexts publicly affirm their religious belongings. This article explores how Islamic rituals surrounding death are performanced by Muslims in Brazil, focusing on the ways in which the bodies are prepared and buried in local Muslim cemetery. The ethnographic data is based on fieldwork conducted in two Muslim communities in Brazil, between 2012 and 2014. Thus, the article aims to analyze how objects and funerary spaces make the “Muslim dead” in contexts in which Islam plays a minority role in the religious field, as in Brazil.

Keywords
Islam; death; funerary objects; Muslims in Brazil