The Inter-Faith Bridging Committee continues its presentations on life transitions with a talk on Muslim beliefs about death and dying to take place Saturday at the Vernon Mosque.
“As Muslims, we are always preparing ourselves for death in how we live and deal with people on a daily basis,” said Imam Muhammad William Creelman.
“We know that we will all die. We do our best in life and those who know they are near death make amends if needed.”
When someone is dying, family, friends and the community make supplication with special prayers to make death as easy as possible for them.
“It is the goal for a Muslim to die with a prayer on his lips. A person can be very weak and not need to move the lips to say it. It is a confirmation of faith, and eases the person’s soul,” said Sana Mohamed, Inter-Faith steering committee member and Imam Creelman’s fiancée.
The prayer, which is in Arabic, is, “La Illah Il Allah,” meaning, “There is no God worthy of worship except Allah.”
The presentation will include a demonstration by Imam Muhammad Zubir of the Kelowna Mosque on how the body is prepared and wrapped for burial, which should take place as soon as possible.
Imam Creelman will speak on Muslim beliefs about the afterlife and there will be a time for questions after the presentation, followed by a time to visit and refreshments.
Vernon Muslim Association president Hafiz Mohamed invites the community to the presentation and to see the mosque, which opened about one-and-a-half years ago.
“It is a good thing when we can get together with people of other faiths in this way and learn about each other,” he said.
Imam Creelman agreed. “You can’t have mutual love for people if you don’t know them,” he said.
The presentation, which is free, takes place Oct. 5 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Vernon Mosque, 3414-17th Ave. Visitors are reminded to show respect by dressing modestly and removing shoes when entering the building. Women are requested to wear scarves over their hair. Look for signs for the men’s and women’s entrances.
