For those of you that have a serious issue with this subject or have trouble with the topic, my apologies in advance. It deals with the somber theme of death and those faint at heart are encouraged to not read further rather than passing off-the-cuff remarks and hurting those that take it all too solemnly. Thank you.
I am curious to know how many people you would expect at your funeral. How many of those attending would be there
a) because they love you and feel the pain,
b) because they feel obligated to,
c) because they must attend under societal pressures (i.e. parents force them to, etc.),
d) because they were at the masjid at the time of your namaz-e-janaza,
e) because of other reasons.
Muzna ji
First of all i'm not even sure if i'll die somewhere near my family and friends. Kya pata janaaza ho ya na ho. Janaza to qismat walo ka hota hai.
Ok and let's suppose I do get to have a janaza. So let's see.....I really don't have any idea how many people will attend. I guess my family and friends, because they love for sure.
And as for other people, if they do attend, then i guess they'll attend because they'll be obliged to. Sigh
Allah hum sab ki maghfirat farmaaye. Amen.
i don't.most of my family members.a few of my friends bcauz i dodn't have too many friends.
i think i have more people who want to kill me then those who r going to attend my funeral. ;)
I think too much importance is placed on "how many people" attend a funeral.
I think it is unfortunate that at a time of grieving, people have to examine how many people attending so and so's funeral in an effort to assess the importance of the individual.
It doesn't matter how many people attend your funeral, whats more important is how many people would be willing to vouch for you when others question the importance of your life, after you die.
I don't think it really matters how many people attend your funeral, and the reasons are based right in your question Munza.. because people would be coming for all sorts of different reasons, and so the number in attendance doesn't really represent the number of people who like/love and respect you.
When I die, Insha'Allah there will be some people there who will help my family out, because death is hard for those who are left behind.
I guess if we want to measure numbers, I think the number of people who pray that Allah has mercy on your soul after you die is significant. There is ofcourse no way to measure that number, because as human beings we have no idea how many people we have impacted or know who is kind enough to not even have known us, but still asks Allah to have mercy on our souls.
Never mind when you die, you have no idea who makes prayers for you while you are alive. There are more praying for you then you probably think... many people make du'a for the whole Muslim Ummah, which includes quite a few of us :)
Sorry to bring up religion into your post, but I don't think death and religion can be seperated, since religion is a way of life, and death is the end of this life.
You sneaky you… I know - you are planning to open up an Islami funeral parlor in the United States. Cleaver idea! I will expect about 14 people on my funeral. I would like my body to be donated for scientific research, specially my brains. Unless I die in a terrible crash with no remains left to be studied.
For those of you that have assumed some kind of judgement is being made based on the quanity of people that attend....you are totally wrong.
The the first part of the question was phrased in that manner to evoke a certain response...the second part is what truly defines what we should focus on.
NYAhmadi....I made a very simple and polite request that the thread remain free from off-the-cuff remarks. I had hoped that people would refrain from distasteful humour as well.
Sorry. I wasn't sure if you were serious. I apologize. This is a pretty gory issue to be discussed. Here is my serious answer:
I expect my family members and a few close friends to attend my funeral. Friends who accept me with all my weaknesses and shortfalls and are not judgmental of me in any way. If they were, I wouldn't want them attending my funeral. As far as donating my body is concerned, I would want that to happen. If I were to die today, I will have approximately 50 people attend my funeral. I can't tell about the future.
Just came from a funeral of two muslim brothers who passed away this weekend.
I have always shied away from this very sensitive topic mostly because I am not very confortable with it. But today, for the first time, I realize how real death is. Seeing the two brothers, wrapped in white cloth, having their final prayers said by others makes me realize my own mortality.
I have faced death so many times and in so many ways that it fails to frighten me anymore. I don't know if I like that.
For some reason, with the fear gone, the subject doesn't seem so taboo anymore. And I often get frustrated attempting to discuss it with people because they suddenly decide that I'm depressed or being morbid...they pin their own insecurity with the topic on me.
I wanted to see what kind of a response this forum would give to such a subject.
In our family, we were very sheltered when it came to issues relating to death. When my grandfather passed away, our parents didn;t take us to his house until the mourning period was over, mostly because we were young. When my other grandfather and grandmother passed away, I was not in Pakistan, so there was no exposure to the eerie environment that follows with death in a family.
Now that I am on my own, I have tried to distance myself from this experience and in the process have done nothing but fooled myself. Death is real!
I think my parents should have taken me to my grandfather's funeral, no matter what my age was. We all talk about being realistic and learning to deal with life. Well, this is the height of reality. If one wants to deal with reality, s/he must come to terms with death.