Shades Of A 40
I’ve used the english translation of the prayer from arabic because I think it’s got a very nice meaning to it. Islamic burial rituals are very simple, with an emphasis on the idea that everyone goes to god equally. This means markers will only show a name to identify the person and it’s discouraged to place flowers or other decoration on the grave.
You can find more information on muslim burials over here:
http://www.gardens-of-peace.org.uk/index.html
*goes ‘to’ god equally?
Yeah, that’s where people go when they die. Where else would they go?
Well we COULD start a huge comparative religion thing but, suffice to say, ‘God’ has been everything from the ultimate judge, the peerless warrior to the gentle Mother and eternal Child. As such ‘destinations’ in death are everything from ‘the next life’ reincarnation or absorbed back into the Earth to (literally) sustain the next generation.
In Anglo-Saxon culture, before the Norman Invasion brought Christianity with it, unless you were a warrior or ruler who did things so spectacular that the bards sang about you, there was no afterlife. So…yeah. Might want to reconsider your take on religion a bit. Not every mythology has a place for the dead.
Poor Anwar and his mum. His dad was so young :(
And looking at the date there I suspect he didn’t die of natural causes.
When you said that, I looked at the tombstone again and was like, “Oh. Ohhhhh. Oh no. ):”
If what I now suspect is true, I knew prejudice against Muslims can get bad in the States, especially right after 9/11, but I didn’t realize it’s also bad in the UK?
It gets pretty awful over here too. Some people seem to take any excuse to live out hatred. 9/11 had some terribly harsh reactions to Muslims, or even Asians in general.
UK citizens have picked on everyone in the world at one point or another. Even Native Americans. (Yes we did meet them. Before the revolution the America’s was a primarily british colony. Technically Americans didn’t mistreat Native Americans then. We did.)
It’s Muslims at the moment, true, but it wasn’t all that long ago it was Jewish or immigrants from Pakistan (or percieved to be, more to the point). Soon enough it’ll be East Europeans I suspect. I can see the groundswell and I hope I’m wrong.
Unfortunately, I think it’s human nature to hate on anyone different from them. I grew up in a relatively welcoming household, so I always got confused when people said things that expressed loathing for a particular group based off of religion/political affiliation/sexual orientation/pronoun preference/etc.
Sadly, I don’t think that anyone can pull themselves from that tendency, entirely.
It’s called infrahumanisation if I recall correctly. Or, if you prefer, US and THEM syndrome. It was a necessary evolutionary tool, but damned inconvenient in todays ‘more advanced’ society.
I think it’s the nature of all animals. Pretty much every animal is territorial to some degree, and at the end of the day we’re just animals. And we’re protecting our territory (country) from threats (people from different countries/cultures).
It’s not an excuse at all, because at the end of the day people are just out to make a living, not steal others territory, but it makes some degree of sense in my head.
Eastern Europeans have suffered for centuries. The eastern countries were caught up under Greek, then Roman, then Ottoman, then Nazi, then Soviet rule. No small wonder why the likes of Vlad III Tepes Dracula and Stephan the Great came about in Medieval times. Then throughout Europe, the Jews and Gypsies, among other minorities, have been persecuted relentlessly throughout the ages. Makes me wonder when we’re going to put our hatred and prejudice behind us and LOVE.
Oct. 7, 2001 was the beginning of the war in Afghanistan. Maybe his dad was in the military?
Oh, my first thought when Pilot pointed out the date was that he was maybe killed as a hate crime because tensions were really high right after 9/11.
I wonder if ‘War will ever see it as he and his mum looking after each other? I’m very certain that’s whats happening.
I hope so. That sums up what good families do for each other pretty well.
I know how he feels….