Call to increase funeral sizes to 30 mourners
Birmingham City Council is being urged to end the ‘tragedy’ of restricted funeral sizes by increasing the maximum attendance from 16 to 30.
Writing to the council, Jawad Khan, chairman of the Birmingham Council of Mosques, says that an increase is necessary to allow friends and family the chance to read the Salat ul Janazah prayer before laying their loved ones to rest.
Last week, the council announced it would be expanding the maximum number of attendees at funerals from six to 16, with the former limit imposed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
But, pointing to neighbouring Sandwell Council where the maximum number of attendees currently stands at 30, Mr Khan says that his group have consulted with ‘a number of councillors and funeral directors’ who he says are ‘fully supportive’ of increasing the number once more to 30.
The letter has been signed by more than 35 leading figures and establishments from across the city.
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It reads: "One major impact has been the reduction in the number of mourners who can attend a funeral service.
"Within the Muslim community reading the Salat ul Janazah prayer is a part of the Islamic funeral ritual.
"The prayer is performed at a mosque, in congregation, to seek pardon for the deceased and all dead Muslims from Our Creator.
"The Janazah prayer is an essential part of healing during bereavement.
"The reading of the Janazah prayer is something that should be done in congregation and is also something that Muslims want to be a part of for their loved ones.
Closure
"Currently, immediate family members are not being given the opportunity to partake in the funeral of loved ones and this is having a major effect in the community.
"It is a tragedy that loved ones of the immediate family of a deceased individual are being denied this opportunity to pray for their deceased, pay their respects and to have some form of closure.
"We sincerely hope you can honour this request for all Birmingham Mosques.”
The letter goes on to acknowledge that such measures would not be possible for the deaths of Covid-19 victims, but does ask that in these cases 30 mourners are able to gather outside at the burial grounds, to conduct the Janazah prayer. It also states that strict social distancing measures would remain in place if the number is increased by the council.
Back when restrictions were first introduced, former cabinet member Majid Mahmood wrote to the leader of the council asking for an increase in mourner numbers, stating: “This is causing anxiety amongst a lot of Muslim families in the city.
"Due to the current Covid-19 crisis visitors are not permitted to visit patients at hospital.
"As such, the only time grieving families get to say their goodbyes would be at the funeral and we are preventing people from doing so.
"I believe we can, and we should increase the number of people who can attend funerals provided all wear appropriate PPE, and attendees are kept more than two metres apart."
