Death

The local Greek Orthodox cemetery was situated below the tel on the northern edge of town. Anyone from the Muslim faith were buried outside of Skelbieh. I once visited the grave of my children's great grandfather. The acre of land allotted to his faith by the local council was overgrown with weeds and resembled anything but a cemetery. There was no huge pomp and ceremony when someone died from the Alawyn faith. The person was washed in scented oils and wrapped in white cloth and buried with a prayer service within, if possible, twenty four hours of their death. The men accompanied the body to the gravesite. The deceased was laid in the grave without a coffin on his or her right side, facing Mecca. At the gravesite, it was discouraged for people to erect tombstones, elaborate markers, or put flowers or other momentos. Rather, they were encouraged to humbly remember Allah and His mercy, and pray for the deceased.
Loved ones and relatives observed a 3 day mourning period.
In Islam when one died, everything in this earthly life was left behind, and there were no more opportunities to perform acts of righteousness and faith. The Prophet Muhammad once said that there were three things, however, which may continue to benefit a person after death: charity given during life which continues to help others, knowledge from which people continue to benefit, and a righteous child who prays for him or her.
The funerals of the Skelbieh Greek Orthodox faith were remarkably different.
When someone died in the town everyone knew about it. It didn't matter what time of day or night that the person died the townsfolk would gather at the deceased family home and then proceed to walk through the town mourning and shooting their rifles into the air. The women wore black and would wail and scream and some would tear at their clothing. Sometimes there would be hundreds in the procession and I would stand on my veranda and watch them as they passed by our home. An eerie and foreboding feeling would come over me as I was faced with my own mortality.
Only the men were allowed to bury the body after the church service and they would make their way down the tel carrying the coffin into the graveyard. There were quite a few families who owned their own tomb and the coffin was then respectfully laid inside the crypt or lowered into an open grave. A period of mourning would begin and for seven days their friends and neighbours would visit and pay their condolences to the closest family members of the deceased person. They then would be offered a sip of strong sugarless Arabic coffee and directed to take a seat on one of the chairs that were placed around the room or in a tent on the street. Men were always separated from the female visitors.

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