Muslim Burial Site Story

“Most religious communities are unhappy” with cramped cemetery spaces that impinge on religious burial traditions, says Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, an imam and member of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). “There will be a need by Muslims for special burial areas in the new Muslim communities” in Britain, he said.

His remarks come as the debate over the re-opening of Bow Cemetery Park in Tower Hamlets heats up. Bow Cemetery has been closed to new burials since 1966. As the Muslim population continues to swell, Tower Hamlets Council has been swarmed by requests to re-open the space as a Muslim burial ground.

“The MCB has been in ongoing negotiations with the Department of Trade and Industry [now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform,” to create more spaces for Muslim burials, says Sheikh Mogra. The sheikh said more Muslims are turning to private burial grounds, like the Gardens of Peace in Ilford.

The sheikh is also concerned that cemeteries are finding new ways of increasing burial space, such as burying the dead body in an upright position. “I find that unnerving,” he said.

However, the sheikh believes a solution may be at hand. “It can be worked out,” he said.