The BC Muslim Association (BCMA) funeral department appears to be in a state of disarray.
Anis Ali
1-24-2023
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The BC Muslim Association (BCMA) funeral department appears to be in a state of disarray.
This post is regarding a recent Janaza for my grandfather, Marhoom Haji Mohammed Sahib, and the failures and troubles we had gone through when dealing with the BCMA's funeral process.
First and foremost, my grandfather had been an active member of the community since the 1960s in various ways, such as within the BCMA and BCMA sports. He had dedicated his effort and time towards the community and the masjid, such as raising funds for the opening of Masjid ul Haqq in Vancouver and for other causes, making the azaan, cooking the chicken Palau for Friday Juma Prayers, and helping in any way possible. He did this even through all of his health ailments, and we pray that Allah grant him the highest place in Jannah, forgive his sins, and make life in the hereafter as easy as possible.
My grandfather passed away peacefully at home at approximately 2:30am on December 6th, 2022. Following the paperwork, coroner's etc., we contacted BCMA funeral services in order to have the body taken away for the ghusl and the janaza. We expected, as other Muslims would, that the entire ghusl and janaza process would have been conducted on the same day without delay, but came across the following issues after contacting the BCMA.
1) The janaza was not going to be conducted ASAP. We were told by the BCMA that they did not have the volunteers and funeral directors readily available in order to conduct the ghusl and janaza, (only one funeral director available) and that the BCMA could only conduct the funeral in 2 days. This was because there were other janazas waiting to be conducted. This timeline goes against Islamic principles. It was narrated from Abu Hurairah, who attributed it to the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him): "Hasten with the Janazah, for if it was righteous then your are taking it toward something good, and if it was otherwise, then it is an evil of which you are relieving yourselves.". Waiting two days (almost 60 hours) to complete the janaza is cruel and excessive not only for the family, but for the soul of the Marhoom.
2) The janaza was not going to take place at the masjid of the family's choice. It was our families choice to conduct the janaza at Burnaby Masjid as it is the masjid which is closest to our home; however, the BCMA funeral department had informed us that the janaza cannot take place from Burnaby Masjid, it could only take place from Surrey Masjid. They stated that if we wanted to have the janaza from Burnaby Masjid, they could not guarantee a date and time for a janaza because they have other janazas to conduct, and that if we wanted a quicker janaza, we needed to have the janaza at Surrey Masjid for their convenience. Our convenience and our choice was not considered.
After reading the above two points, since when has the janaza become an appointment style booking? We are not booking an appointment for a chiropractors appointment, we are here to bury our loved ones ASAP. As the Muslim community in the lower mainland continues to grow at an exponential rate (refugees, immigrants, births), it is expected that the number of deaths and janazas will also increase. When the Muslim community has no other choice but to utilize the services of the BCMA in order to conduct a janaza, why is the BCMA unable to conduct a janaza within a timely manner and according to the wishes of the grieving family?
The next issue I came across is the leading of the janaza prayer. On the bcma website, BCMA policy states the Imam has the authority to lead the prayer but that if anyone else wishes to lead the janaza prayer for the deceased, they need to be approved by the Vice President Funeral Director. One day before the janaza prayers were to take place, a family member of ours had an idea that I, the Marhoom's grandson, could lead the janaza prayer for my Nana. Although I may not be an Imam or Maulana, I have enough knowledge about Islam to know how to lead all types of prayers, which includes Janaza prayer. An uncle of mine called people within the BCMA to get permission from them so that I could lead my nana's janaza prayer. I don't remember the names of the people that were spoken to but it was the VP of the funeral service and another member of the funeral department. The message we got from them was that "we used to allow it in the past but there were too many issues". When asked what the issues were, they stated that people were making mistakes while leading janaza prayer. However, the most striking reason we were given was there was a fight or an argument that happened once when "the 105 group" lead the janaza prayer. I don't know what this group is or who they are and why they would label the group as such. At the end of the day, I'm a Sunni Muslim who has also devoted his time as a youth and adult to the masjid. If there was ever a problem with outsiders coming to lead the janaza prayer for their relative, what gives BCMA the right to paint everyone with the same brush? Just because there was one altercation, it doesn't mean that it will happen with the next person who comes to lead the prayer. That's unfair, unacceptable, possibly discriminatory, rude, and downright offensive to label everyone who wants to lead the janaza prayer for their close relative as "someone who doesn't want to follow the rules". I've followed all the rules of Islam and given back to our community, so why can't the BCMA give back to me and my family?
We asked our local imam from Masjid ul-Haqq who states that children, grandchildren, next of kin etc are able to lead the janaza prayer for their relative. Later that evening, a call even went to someone who was on vacation in Fiji, I believe the president of Surrey masjid, who stated that it is allowed for a grandchild to read the janaza prayer for their grandfather. Why some people within the BCMA said no, while others in the BCMA said yes, is bewildering and frustrating. Why can we not get a clear answer "yes" or "no" for getting an approval to lead the janaza prayer for one of our loved ones?
This continued on the Janaza day, Thursday December 8th. I met with a member of the board. I found out that this member lead the janaza prayer for his mother once. I asked for him to speak to the proper authorities in getting permission for me to lead janaza prayer for my nana, since it appears that this had not been an issue in the past. I don't know who was spoken to, but this person went to the "office" and spoke with someone who said that the grandson cannot lead the janaza. There were no reasons given to me on that date, just that the decision was made to not allow it. It was a shame that different people within the BCMA organization were providing conflicting answers. Why was I not allowed to lead the janaza prayer for my grandfather who introduced me to the masjid, taught me how to pray, taught me how to give azaan, and taught me how to make dua.
Bearing all of the above facts in mind, I have the following questions for the BCMA that the public deserves to know:
- Will the BCMA conduct an internal investigation as to the failures of this Janaza, with the intention to find where all of the mistakes were made by the BCMA funeral department and how not to repeat it for future families?
- Why does the BCMA funeral department refuse to accommodate a family's request to have a janaza from a specific masjid, when they have spent so much money on building and maintaining janaza facilities in Burnaby and Richmond?
- Why does the BCMA only have one funeral director available for 3 different masjids in 3 different cities?
- Why does the BCMA not actively seek to find more volunteers and hire more funeral directors in order to service the needs of the growing muslim community?
- Why does the BCMA threaten a family with their busy work schedule as a reason that they cannot accommodate the grieving families wishes?
- Why does the BCMA refuse to conduct the ghusl and janaza within a timely manner according to Islamic principles?
- Why does the BCMA say that if you want your janaza at a certain masjid, they have no timeline for you as to when the janaza will happen?
- When someone has spent thousands of dollars on janaza and cemetery fees (possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars for larger families), why does the BCMA refuse to allow the janaza service to be conducted in a proper manner by allowing the janaza to happen ASAP and to have the janaza happen at the masjid of the family's choosing?
- When the BCMA says that only an Imam can lead the janaza prayer and that anyone else who wants to lead it needs to get approval, then why does BCMA not provide a proper response on what grounds constitutes an approval to lead janaza prayer for a family member?
-If I wanted to lead the janaza prayer, why did the BCMA not take initiative to provide to me, one of their youth Muslim members of the community, with the knowledge of how to conduct the janaza prayer and allow that person to pray the janaza for their own elder?
-Why does BCMA "pass the buck" when trying to give a family a clear answer of whether they can lead the janaza prayer?
- Why does the BCMA ignore the youth and not give importance to their youth, such as when they want to learn and conduct the last funeral prayer for their beloved deceased?
Some of our concerns were brought forward by BCMA members in the BCMA annual general meeting on December 18th. We were unable to get satisfactory answers or clarification from the BCMA leadership. An email was sent out to people within the BCMA executive and branches on December 11th, and after a week, we have had no responses.
I’m sure that our family is not the only family that has gone through this. Many people within the community are worried of voicing their concerns with a fear of retribution from the BCMA. At this time, I ask for our communities support. The number of deaths and funerals will only continue to rise in the lower mainland. If we don’t apply pressure to the governing muslim body of BC, the BCMA, it might not be long before we are asked to wait weeks to bury our loved ones.
I ask that you bring up this issue with our local Imaams, board members. Community members etc. We MUST ask for change. We MUST ask for what is right by the teachings of Islam. After all, what is the point if we cannot abide by the teachings though a body that implies that this is their goal? It was not my intention to offend anyone with my letters and post, and if I have, I ask for your forgiveness. This is only to share my experience of a trend heading in the wrong direction.
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