What to do after a death

This guide describes the course of an Islamic burial in Hamburg, from the first hour to the weeks that follow. The order follows the legal deadlines. What is religiously required is noted at each step. If you live in another city: the deadlines differ from one federal state to another, but the principle is the same everywhere.

1. In the first hours

Call a doctor. Every death must be certified by a doctor. At home, call the family doctor or the out-of-hours medical service (116 117); in the case of a sudden or unexplained death, call the emergency number 112. In a hospital or care home, the institution takes care of this. The doctor issues the medical death certificate (Todesbescheinigung). Without it, nothing further can happen.

Inform family and community. Notify the closest relatives and the imam or the mosque community. The community helps with the funeral prayer and usually knows the local funeral directors.

What happens religiously during this time. The eyes of the deceased are closed, the jaw is gently supported with a cloth, and the body is covered with a cloth. If possible, the deceased is laid facing Mecca. Relatives say the supplication and the words of return to God. The family may do all of this before the funeral director arrives.

If the police are present. In the case of an unnatural or unexplained death, the police are called in. They may temporarily seize the body. This delays the burial but cannot be avoided. The funeral director knows how to proceed in this case.

2. On the same day: call a funeral director

Call a Muslim funeral director. Many are available around the clock. The funeral director collects the deceased, arranges cooling, registers the death at the Standesamt (registry office), discusses the grave and the date with the cemetery, and organises the washing, the shroud and the funeral prayer. The numbers are on the page Funeral directors in Hamburg.

Have ready for the first call: the name, date of birth and place of death of the deceased, whether the medical death certificate has already been issued, whether there is a membership in a burial fund (DITIB, VIKZ, IGMG or a private fund) and whether the burial is to take place in Hamburg or in the country of origin.

Check the burial fund. If the deceased was a member of a fund, report the death there. The fund then covers the repatriation, often also the handling through a partner funeral director. More on this under Associations and funds.

Deadline: under the Hamburg Burial Act, a deceased person must be transferred to a mortuary or to a funeral director no later than 36 hours after the death has been certified.

3. On the first day: Hamburg or repatriation?

The family must decide early where the burial will take place.

Burial in Hamburg. Five Hamburg cemeteries have Islamic burial sections, among them our partner Finkenriek Cemetery. Burial without a coffin, in a shroud, has been permitted in Hamburg since 1998. The graves face Mecca. The 2012 state treaty ensures that the remains stay in the grave even after the rest period has expired. More and more families choose burial here, because the relatives can visit the grave.

Repatriation to the country of origin. This requires a Leichenpass (mortuary passport) from the Bezirksamt Wandsbek (district office), usually a coffin with a zinc lining for the flight, and coordination with the consulate and the airline. The funeral director organises this. Repatriation usually takes two to five days. All details on the page Repatriation abroad.

4. By the third working day: the Standesamt

The death must be registered at the Standesamt (registry office) of the district in which the death occurred no later than the third working day. In the case of a death in a hospital or care home, the institution does this; otherwise the funeral director or the relatives.

Documents: the medical death certificate, the identity card or passport of the deceased, the birth certificate, the marriage certificate for married persons, and for widowed or divorced persons the death certificate of the former spouse or the divorce decree. For foreign documents, a certified translation is often required. The complete list is in the Document checklist.

Costs: the first death certificate (Sterbeurkunde) costs €19.50, each further copy €8.50. Free copies are available for the pension office and the health insurance fund. Order several at once; you will need them for banks, insurers, the landlord and the pension insurance.

5. Before the burial: washing, shroud, funeral prayer

The ritual washing (ghusl). It takes place in the washing room of the cemetery or at the funeral director's. Men are washed by men, women by women, usually by relatives or experienced members of the community, guided by the funeral director or the imam. Finkenriek Cemetery has its own washing house for this, with separate entrances. Ohlsdorf and Öjendorf also have washing rooms.

The shroud (kafan). After the washing, the deceased is wrapped in white cotton cloths, three for men, five for women. The funeral director provides the cloths.

The funeral prayer (Cenaze Namazı, Salat al-Janazah). It is performed standing, in the mosque or at the cemetery. Finkenriek has a covered area with a prayer stone (Totenstein) by the washing house, Ohlsdorf holds the prayer in the open air, and Öjendorf has a granite table. Arrangements are made through the funeral director or the community.

Grave and date. The funeral director reserves the grave and arranges the burial date with the cemetery. In Hamburg there is no legal minimum waiting period; the date depends on the cemetery, the documents and the time of day. Burials on Saturdays are possible at the public cemeteries but carry a surcharge.

6. Within ten days: the burial

In Hamburg, an earth burial must take place within ten days of the death. Islamically it should be as soon as possible, in practice usually within two to four days.

At the grave. The deceased is buried in the shroud, or in a coffin if wished, lying on the right side with the face towards Mecca. In the Islamic burial sections, the graves are already aligned this way. Whether the mourners may fill the grave with earth themselves depends on the cemetery; we are clarifying this for Finkenriek with the cemetery.

What needs to be done in the weeks that follow.

• Inform the pension insurance, health insurance fund, employer, banks, insurers, landlord and contract partners. The free death certificate is for the pension office.
• Apply for the Sterbevierteljahr: widows and widowers receive the full pension of the deceased for three months. Apply through the pension advice service or the Rentenservice office of Deutsche Post.
• Apply for a certificate of inheritance (Erbschein) if banks or the land registry require it. The probate court is the Amtsgericht (local court) at the place of residence of the deceased.
• If money is short: apply for a social welfare burial at the Bezirksamt.
• The gravestone is usually set only after a few months, once the earth has settled. The grave monument requires a permit from the cemetery. More on the page Gravestones.

Mourning period. The Islamic mourning period lasts three days; for widows, the waiting period (iddah) of four months and ten days applies. Condolence visits (ta'ziyah) take place at home or in the community. Many families read the Quran on the seventh, fortieth and fifty-second day; this is custom, not a religious obligation.