Dealing with Death in a Secular Society: The Case of Muslim Burials in Spain

Abstract

Death is not only a universal biological fact; for the individual it is the “event horizon”. This fact has important symbolic meanings and complex social consequences. Any society, secular or not, must manage this reality. What response is given to the question of religious phenomenon in general, and to funerary practices in particular, in a secular society in which individuals with different religious sensibilities coexist? This article aims to analyse the response given by the Spanish state to the questions raised regarding burials by Muslim communities, the most widespread minority group in Spain as a whole. This response, which would be framed within what could be called a ‘cooperation model’, has encountered some difficulties as a result of the territorial organisation of the Spanish state. Despite this, the willingness to cooperate on the part of both the administrations that make up the state and the Islamic communities has made a situation of stable coexistence possible.

Keywords

• secularism
• funerary practices
• burials
• Muslim communities
• Spain