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Malay Funeralalay funeral generally follows Islamic rites with a mix of ancient custom practiced over the years. It is a relatively simple affair if we were to compare with Chinese funeral rites, for example. According to Islam, it is best the deceased is buried as soon as possible after death. In the case of an elderly man or woman, death is not unexpected, especially if he or she was ailing. Nevertheless, the news of their passing still brings tears and grief to the members of the family.
My grandmother passed away last night. She never recovered from the operation she had after she fell and broke her hip about a month ago. Once the news spread, family members, near and far congregated at her house. The main hall was cleared of furniture and spread with mats to receive visitors. Only a lone single bed was placed with the deceased on it, with its foot facing Mecca. Family members and neighbors came to pay respect, reciting the verses Al-Fatihah and Yaasin. As with the custom, visitors were not served any food or refreshment. Nevertheless, visitors do give out some alms in the form of cash to the family. Only on the third, seventh and fortieth days, kenduri arwah would be held - people in the neighborhood will come and recite the Quran and they will be served a complete meal. The body of my grandma was bathed by female family members and also a couple of ladies who were the village specialist in this rites. Her body was placed in a special tank, which was placed in the kitchen. Her hair was shampooed, her skin soaped and rinsed with camphorated water (air kapur barus) and rose water. Her brows and around her eyelids were lightly blackened with chelak Mekah. It is kohl in powder form. All dentures and jewelry items were removed. Cotton wool was placed at specific places of the body, end of both feet and including the orifice. One layer of unsewn white cloth was used at this stage to wrap the body. The wrapped body was secured with strips of white cloth. At this point, the face was still exposed.
After she was ready, male family members carried the body to the hall, whereby on the floor there was a quilt. Three layers of cloth were placed on it. A set of female praying suit was ready too. She was then dressed with the praying suit, and later two layers of cloth were criss-crossed (right side on top of the left side). These unsewn piece of clothes are known as kain kapan. This is when the potpourri of flowers (rose petals, jasmine, pandanus strips, rose water and sandalwood powder (chendana, in Malay)), was sprinkled around the body by family members and friends. We were careful not to place it on top of her body.
We kissed her goodbye on the forehead. Careful not to let tears to drop on her. We believed, that tears would stress her spirit. Then the village specialist who was an expert in Malay funeral rites placed the final layer of cotton wool on her face and she was completely wrapped up. Strips of cloth again were tied at the end of the head, at the waist and at the bottom of the foot. Then the simple wooden coffin was brought in, the body was carefully placed in it, lined with a thin layer of potpourri again. Two pieces of batik cloth were draped on the coffin. Traditionally, only a piece of kain batik Jawa (batik panjang from Java) would be used since it is longer and would be able to cover the whole coffin.
Later, the mortuary van arrived and the stretcher was brought out. Male family members carried the coffin into the van to be brought to the mosque for the last prayer. Before the first step out of the house, Al-Fatihah was again recited.
There were some more rites to be performed prior to burial. It included Talqin prayer by an Imam. Later the grave would be blessed with water mixed with rose water and flower petals. This Malay funeral was then considered to be complete for the day. Back to the top of Malay funeral Back to the homepage of Penang Heritage City.com |
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