A Muslim Daughter's Role in Preparing her Mother for Burial

The Guardian today ran a touching piece about a young muslim woman who, on the death of her mother, discovered it was her duty to wash down her mother's body and prepare her for burial. 

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/oct/26/muslim-daughter-mother-burial

It's strange: this is not something we really talk about in modern Western culture, but every person who dies is washed down. It is interesting to consider why this wouldn't be done by a close family member.

Perhaps because we do not know that we are 'allowed' to do it - we don't learn it at school, and death is still such a taboo subject in so many homes. Perhaps because we are overwraught with grief that we do not feel that we could manage it. Perhaps because this level of intimacy would feel strange to us.

Whatever the reason, this could undoubtedly be a cathartic process; something which could help with the grief process and give us an additional way to say goodbye to our loved ones. If it were more commonly known that families could take part in this practice, would more people choose to do so?

As Momtaz Begum-Hossain puts it: "I reminisce over it all as a special memory. Not everyone has a chance to say goodbye properly to someone they love, but I did more than that."