Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saudi Ministry Discourages Burials In Mecca and Medina
Zawya reported yesterday that Saudi Arabia's interior ministry has recently issued a circular discouraging Muslims from shipping bodies to the holy cities of Mecca or Medina for burial. The ministry said that Islamic law instead requires burial without delay where a person dies. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the country's highest religious authority, said: "It will not reduce the sins of the dead to be buried in Mecca or Medina. Only their good deeds will accompany them to their graves."