Mapping ritual elements: summary

The ten ritual elements guided us through the ritual practice and yield the out- line summarised below. The findings concerning each ritual component are briefly listed.

Elements Findings

Actions Ritual purification of the deceased is part of a larger body of inter- connected funerary rites. Basic actions stay the same but the parties present, the location and circumstances change in the new context and additional actions are improvised to meet the needs of the be- reaved.

Actors The deceased plays a central role, the bereaved struggle with their own roles to do the right thing by the deceased and themselves with due regard to feasibility. New roles emerge. Ritual experts (wash- ers) are indispensable as most people don’t know the procedure. An actual Muslim community is not self-evident in the new context.

Sources Qur’an and Hadith are frequently mentioned sources. Although fiqh literature offers the most tangible guidelines, it is often inaccessible to lay people. Imams become a primary source in the new context. Additional information is provided by courses, meetings and the internet. In local narratives all these sources converge and become an important source in the Venlo context

Attitudes, Beliefs, Emotions

Muslims in Venlo are very much aware of death, the afterlife and Islamic eschatology, which affect attitudes towards ritual practice. The awareness of fard kifaya can reinforce a Muslim community. The current context creates exceptional situations that make the rit- ual practice less predictable.

Places The washing can be performed in any screened off area and may be a very private ritual. The actual place of burial has a direct impact on the way the ritual cleansing is performed and perceived. It might cause funerary rites to be split between people and places.

Time The bereaved feel pressurised to conduct the funeral within 24 hours of death, which is not easily arranged in the present context. Repatriation of the body also obstructs prompt burial.

Objects The washing requires mainly practical items that are readily availa- ble. But people appear to go to great lengths to get additional mate- rial (incense, leaves, shrouds) from their original context.

Languages, sounds

The primary ritual language is Arabic – a language not many have mastered. That and the unavailability of clear texts make people feel insecure about participating. Dutch is only used as language of instruction (outside the ritual performance)

Senses The scent of death is feared and counteracted by burning incense or adding rose water or other perfumes to the water. Camphor is rec- ommended in the current context: it is easy to obtain and is also mentioned in the Qur’an.

Comments, criticism

The diversity of Muslims, their different origins and their migration to a new context trigger debate about what is ‘real Islam’ or ‘cor- rect ritual.’

2.3 Conclusion

Mapping the ritual elements of the purification of the deceased and connected death rites clarifies the practices of the performers of the ritual repertoire í the various Muslims living in the Dutch town of Venlo í by zooming in on the ritu- al elements and how they are (re)shaped in the current context of Venlo.

After analysing the actual practice using the separate ritual elements as stepping stones, we now take a step back so as to look at the glue that seems to hold all these findings together: a ritual process of ‘reinvention’, closely linked with our three key concepts í ritual practice, the ritual context of migration and ritual content (meaning).

2.3.1 Ritual practice

What is the character of the ritual elements we have identified?

The description of the building blocks of ritual – the elements – enabled us to provide a substantiated picture of the actual ritual practice. The ritual practice presented through these elements displays the dynamics inherent in all ritual. It also clarifies how rites as hand-me-downs take shape in a particular context and affords insight into the reinvention of death ritual to make it fit the particular context. It shows us how Muslims ritualise in the face of death.

What emerges is a twofold picture. We conclude that Muslims in Venlo have a rich ritual repertoire at their disposal, provided and prescribed by Islamic sources. At the same time there is manifest transformation of this repertoire to fit the new context.

2.3.2 Ritual context: migration

What is the influence of the migration context on the ritual elements?

Islamic funerary tradition has taken shape over time and space í from the early days of an emerging Islam in the Arabian peninsula to our modern world where Islam is found in all corners of the world. As a result of migration Muslims are on the move and so is their ritual repertoire. Muslims in Venlo find themselves in a contrast position, as they are now a religious minority and even their own Muslim ‘community’ is marked by diversity. This makes being a Muslim in the migration context less matter of course than in their context of origin. That at least is a common view among Muslims in Venlo: there is a strong tendency to romanticise and idealise the context of origin.

This process of re-imagination manifests itself in vivid narratives that circulate in Muslim communities and play an important role in constructing meaning. We shall dwell on this in chapter 5.

Again we see a twofold development. Migration and the new context make it necessary to review the ritual repertoire and reinvent and adapt its ele- ments to the current context. On the other hand it is a selective process in which certain elements are chosen rather than others. For example, in case of repatria- tion of the corpse prompt burial no longer seems to be a priority. The same ap- plies to the primary role of relatives as washers in the ritual cleansing of the de- ceased: in the migration context the function has been taken over almost com- pletely by ritual experts.

2.3.3 Ritual content: meaning

What ritual content emerges from the ‘lived religion’ practice of death rites in Venlo?

The dimension of lived religion concerns the way religion is experienced in the practice of death rites in a particular context. We see that Muslims are keenly aware of images of death provided by Islamic sources. This colours their per- ception of death, often reinforced by the contrast situation they find themselves in. Although standard ritual prescriptions are available, actual ritual practice is far from uniform. Nonetheless the diverse practices are generally labelled ‘Is- lamic’ by participants.

Once again there is a duality. It appears that all Muslims in this context actually have is ‘lived religion’. The common practice, in all its variations and adaptations, is primary. Interestingly, this seems to go hand in hand with lively debates on ‘correct ritual’ and ‘real Islam’, being Islam free from cultural influ- ences.

CHAPTER 3