http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=109527&d=2&m=5&y=2008&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
Friday 2 May 2008 (25 Rabi` al-Thani 1429)
Women Volunteer to Wash the Dead
Safia Al-Asmari, Arab News -
MAKKAH, 2 May 2008 - Washing the deceased before burial is an
Islamic imperative, but it's not the most appealing job in the world -
especially for women in Saudi Arabia.
But Arab News found a number of women at Al-Muhajereen, a
Makkah-based company that provides pre-burial services, who do the job out of a
desire to earn God's grace. These women have other jobs, such as teaching at
secondary school and university.
Awatef Abdulhamid Manshy, a 48-year-old mathematics teacher,
told Arab News about her experience.
"One of my relatives died late at night," she said. "I went
with my husband to search for a washer but we couldn't find anyone because it
was very late. I thought to myself: 'If I were able to do this job we wouldn't
have a problem.' Later I decided to join a training center for pre-burial
preparations, and then I became a professional."
It wasn't easy though. Manshy says that she cried a lot at
first because naturally this vocation invoked a lot of contemplation about
death. But now she says the job gives her a feeling of fulfillment, and coming
closer to God.
Mona Al-Zahrani, 35, said she decided to volunteer as a body
washer as a way of overcoming her fears so that she can wash the bodies of her
relatives.
"This job is very difficult and requires a brave heart," she
said, describing a macabre incident where the body of a teenage girl came in
wearing tight jeans that they had to cut off to remove before performing the
washing ritual.
"I was so worried about (my mother) since she was very old
and always sick at the time," she said. "In Islam, it is preferable that the
body be washed by those nearest to the dead. So I decided to learn the rules of
washing dead bodies to prevent applying the wrong rituals to my mother when she
dies."
Al-Zahrani decided when she was 20 to become an accredited
pre-burial specialist.
"My family was opposed to the idea, especially my mother who
was allergic to the camphor scent used in washing because it reminds her of
death," she said. "I decided to go without telling anybody, since the course
duration was only four days. When my mother died, I told everybody that I could
wash her since I was the one nearest to her. I washed her according to proper
Islamic rituals."
Asya, 29, also received accreditation as a pre-burial
specialist. She said the training courses use mannequins. She also recounted a
touching incident which is still etched in her memory.
"Once we were washing a body of a teenager girl, who had
painted her nails with a gluey nail polish that had hardened. We tried so hard
to remove it with nail polish remover but we couldn't," she said. "We even
tried to use a sharp equipment like a scissor or a blade but it was so tough
that a decision was made to leave the polish on her nails. But I felt so sad
about her and I insisted to remove the polish.
"So I renewed my efforts, brought a tough piece of cloth and
used the polish remover for a good measure and I kept rubbing. I kept on
praying to God to show her mercy and my efforts paid dividends, as I managed to
clear her nails of the polish. This was a very touching situation for me," she
said.
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