11. How a death is registered

To avoid delay, the death must be registered by the Registrar of Deaths for the sub-district in which the death occurred.

You can find the address in the phone book under REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, DEATHS & MARRIAGES, or from the doctor, local council, post office or police station.

You should go to the Registrar as soon as possible if you need the Certificate for Burial or the Certificate of Registration of Stillbirth shown above.

Please note that the Registrar is not normally available during weekends and bank holidays but can usually be contacted at certain times to make an emergency appointment to register a death and to obtain the paperwork to allow a burial to proceed.

Appendix B includes details on how to contact the Registrar, including emergency contact details where available, covering those London areas which have significant Muslim communities

12. What happens at the register office

When you go to the Registrar you should take all these:

• The Medical Certificate of the cause of the death given by the doctor or the Pink Form (form 100) given to you by the Coroner
• The deceased's medical card, if possible
• The deceased's birth and marriage certificates, if available

You should tell the Registrar:

• The date and place of death
• The deceased's last (usual) address
• The deceased's first names and surname (and the maiden name where appropriate)
• The deceased's date and place of birth (town and country if born in the UK, and country if born abroad)
• The deceased's occupation and the name and occupation of their spouse
• Whether the deceased was getting a pension or allowance from public funds
• If the deceased was married, the date of birth of the surviving widow or widower.

The Registrar who registers the death will give you the Certificate for Burial (known as the Green Form), unless the Coroner has already given you an Order for Burial (form 101). For a stillbirth, you will instead be given a Certificate of Registration of Stillbirth.

The above forms (only one of them is required, not both) give permission for the body to be buried. No burial can take place at the cemetery without presenting one of these forms to cemetery staff.

In addition, certain other paperwork including the Death Certificate is obtained at the same time as the death is registered.

13. Funeral arrangements

As soon as you have the right documents for burial, or are sure of getting the documents by a particular time, you must plan the funeral.

You must have a Certificate for Burial (known as the Green Form) or Order for Burial (form 101) that a coroner has issued otherwise a burial cannot take place. The process for obtaining these documents is explained above.

There are five main points for the preparation of a Muslim's body for burial as listed below:

• Body Washing or Ghusul
• Shrouding the body - Kafn
• Funeral Prayers (Janãzah Salãh)
• Funeral procession (carrying the funeral bier to the grave)
• Burial

The practical aspects of arranging funerals cover:

• Making arrangements for Ghusul
• Arranging transport of the body (from wherever it is being kept to the place where Ghusul is to take place, to the home of the family if required, to the mosque if Janãzah Salãh is to take place there and then finally to the cemetery)
• Making arrangements with the cemetery

You can arrange all or any of the above either through your local mosque or through a Muslim funeral director. You can if you have the knowledge do any or all of the above yourself with help from friends and family.

A listing of some of the funeral directors operating in the London area is included as an Appendix to this guide.

Also find out if the person who died had already made arrangements for burial in a particular cemetery by checking their will and/or looking through their documents.

14. The religious importance of burying quickly

In accordance with Sharee'ah, burial should not be delayed on any account or for the arrival of family members or for any other reason.

Rasulullah (s.a.w.) has emphasised:

“Make haste in burying the deceased (mayyit): because if it is the Janãzah of a pious servant, then enjoin this goodness with its station quickly; and if it is the Janãzah of an evil person then quickly dispose of such a load from your shoulders.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Aboo Dawood, Tirmizi, Nasa'ee, Ibne Maajah)

Islamic scholars have stated:

“If a person dies on a Friday, it is better to make all arrangements and bury the deceased before the Jumu'ah congregational Salãh. Delaying funeral with the thought that there will be many more participants in the Janãzah Salãh after Jumu'ah is undesirable (makrooh).”

Moreover, the blessings and forgiveness for the deceased that will be acquired in a few (even though it be a handful) attending the funeral prayers before Jumu'ah in accordance with the command of Rasulullah (s.a.w) is more worthy then delaying the funeral prayers for later, notwithstanding the greater number of participants likely to attend.

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