Saudi King Abdullah Buried in Simple Unmarked Grave

[Pak-Americanos]

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Given Simple Muslim Burial

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — There were no golden carriages.

Friday's funeral of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah was a relatively simple affair in line with the austere form of Islam practiced by one of the world's wealthiest ruling families.


The body of the former custodian of Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, was bathed according to Islamic ritual. The late ruler, whose net worth has been estimated at around $20 billion, was then wrapped in two pieces of plain white cloth — the standard shroud for all Muslims.

According to tradition, nothing out of the ordinary was to be done to King Abdullah's body. It was taken to the Imam Turki Bin Abdullah Grand Mosque in the capital Riyadh for the funeral prayers at around 3:15 p.m. (7:15 a.m. ET). In line with codes that dictate that a tribal chieftain be accessible to everyone in his community, the ceremony was open to the public. Women were able to attend, sitting in the women's section of the mosque.

After the funeral, Abdullah's shrouded body was carried on a board and driven across an empty desert to Al Oud cemetery, which is home to raised graves. A black truck bearing Abdullah's body came to a stop, and Saudi royals gathered at his gravesite. His successor, the new King Salman, was dressed in a simple black gown.

A group of men lowered the pallet containing Abdullah's body to the ground, and gently tipped it toward the unmarked grave. The body was set inside the burial plot, and mourners threw handfuls of yellow-colored soil onto it. That dirt was then covered with a bed of small stones as the mourners look down. They slowly turned away, led by King Salman.

While public displays of grief are frowned on under the strict form of Wahhabi Islam practiced in the kingdom, tens of thousands are expected to pay their condolences during the three-day period of mourning. Most of the visiting will be held at the king's palace and all the senior royals will be there to receive Salman's subjects and visiting heads of state and dignitaries, including Vice President Joe Biden.


Visitors will be greeted by a line of royals arranged according to age instead of rank.

The king's wives and daughters will also receive female visitors in their palaces.

Mourning will last for three days during which kingdom's flags will fly at half staff but businesses and shops will remain open.

At the same time, subjects and leaders of Saudi Arabia's many tribes will pledge their allegiance to King Salman, although this traditional "bayaa" ceremony scheduled to start after the last daily prayer at around 7:30 p.m. on Friday (11:30 a.m. ET).

NBC News' Charlene Gubash contributed to this report.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Given Simple Muslim Burial - NBC News

 

[Pak-Americanos]

Why Is Saudi Arabia Burying King Abdullah in an Unmarked Grave?

Mourners gather around the grave of Saudi King Abdullah following his burial in Riyadh January 23, 2015



King Abdullah, the former monarch of Saudi Arabia, has been buried in an unmarked grave, the Saudi government announced today.

King Abdullah died early this morning aged 90 after a short bout of pneumonia. However, in accordance with the Saudi royal family’s ultra conservative Muslim faith, often referred to as Wahhabism, there has been no official period of mourning and a public funeral will not be held, despite the fact Abdullah was head of state for almost 10 years.

Instead he was buried in a modest ceremony - his body was bathed in the manner in keeping with Islamic ritual and wrapped in white cloth before he was buried in Riyadh’s Al Oud cemetery where he joined previous Saudi monarchs, also interred in unmarked graves. Prayers were led by his brother and successor, King Salman, in a ceremony which was attended by members of the al-Saud family and prominent Muslim heads of state, Reuters reports.

Wahhabism, an ultra-conservative form of Sunni Islam, is the dominant faith of the Saudi state, adhered to by its ruling family, the House of Saud.

Dr Tony Street, an expert in Islam from Cambridge University, says that when it comes to burial, Wahhabists are “hostile to leaving anything that might become a site for veneration”, and that they characterise their belief as “simply a commitment to utter and absolute Tawhid, the affirmation of God’s supremacy”.

Interestingly, its followers often reject the term Wahhabi, as the word refers to the work of 18th century Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, after whom the movement is named. “I think they just prefer to be called Muslims,” says Dr Street. He explains that calling something or someone Wahhabi “is awarding exactly the kind of eminence to a Muslim that they try to avoid. You don’t want to start setting up people in pseudo-hagiographical positions.”

King Salman has publicly rejected the term saying that it is unrepresentative of modern Saudi society. Speaking to daily Saudi Arabian newspaper Okaz, he said: "Enemies of the Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Wahhab labelled his teaching as Wahhabism, a doctrine that doesn't exist here.”

Al–Wahhab was also buried in an unmarked grave. In September last year controversy arose after an Islamic academic in Saudi Arabia proposed that the Prophet Muhammad’s body be transferred from the al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, to an unmarked grave nearby.

Andrew Hammond, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, explains that this argument over the moving of Muhammad’s body is a point of contention in Islam, along with the fact that Saudi Arabia hosts two holy Islamic cities, Medina and Mecca. Wahhabists in the country “have to put up with this distorted vision of the Muslims who don’t do things their way”, says Hammond, referring to the Wahhabist dislike of worshipping corporeal entities, as opposed to purely spiritual ones. “It particularly bugs them when they see someone venerating his body,” he adds.

King Abdullah began his reign in 2005 after the death of King Fahd, his half brother. Following Abdullah’s death this morning he was immediately succeeded by younger half brother King Salman. Salman, the last of the sons of the founder of the kingdom, King Abdulaziz, was quick to appoint a Deputy Crown Prince - Prince Mohammed bin Nayef - to mark a clear line of succession into the next generation. Despite this smooth succession oil prices have risen as Abdullah’s death created uncertainty in the market. Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil exporter .

Salman was quick to pledge the continuation of existing energy and foreign policies and also appointed his own half-brother Muqrin as heir in order to calm worries about future successions.

Salman has inherited the problems that Abdullah has been facing over the last few months including plunging international oil prices, Saudi’s largest export, and the threat of the Islamic State, who have pledged to overthrow the Al Saud family due to their participation in Obama’s anti-ISIS coalition.

http://www.newsweek.com/why-saudi-arabia-burying-king-abdullah-unmarked-grave-301622

 

[Aepsilons]

Requiem In Pacem. Pax Vobiscum In Nominum Deum. Amen.

 

[rockstar08]

Either you are a king or common man , will go to same Grave ... its our deeds that will make our graves comfortable for us ..

 

[Aepsilons]

Either you are a king or common man , will go to same Grave ... its our deeds that will make our graves comfortable for us ..

Humbling, my friend!

 

[al-Hasani]

Either you are a king or common man , will go to same Grave ... its our deeds that will make our graves comfortable for us ..

Well said and very true.

Humbling, my friend!

Indeed.


Having said that then this form of burial depends on the sect of the person in KSA. Hanbalis who are the majority in Najd usually have unmarked graves but elsewhere in the Kingdom depending on the sect (Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanafi, Sufi, Twelver, Zaydi, Ismaili) you have ordinary graves. But even in Najd you can find "ordinary graves".

This way of burial has just been the practice among Saudi Arabian monarchs and many other Hanbalis. I see nothing wrong with it. In fact it is humbling.

By principal I am against huge mausoleums or lavish graves. There are no Prophets among us anymore that are worthy of such a thing. On the other hand if people think that others are worthy of such a thing then I have no problem with it either. I would just prefer a humble grave personally which is also recommended in Islam.

 

[Green Arrow]

Well grave is the ultimate destination of every human being regardless of its power/status.

 

[al-Hasani]

 

[al-Hasani]

 

[rockstar08]

Humbling, my friend!

this is what i really like about Islam that , Islam on every occasion puts you on the same place where a king and a common man is Equal , same goes in hajj, Salah and after life ...

 

[Frosty]

Interestingly, its followers often reject the term Wahhabi, as the word refers to the work of 18th century Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, after whom the movement is named. “I think they just prefer to be called Muslims,” says Dr Street. He explains that calling something or someone Wahhabi “is awarding exactly the kind of eminence to a Muslim that they try to avoid. You don’t want to start setting up people in pseudo-hagiographical positions.”

Al–Wahhab was also buried in an unmarked grave. In September last year controversy arose after an Islamic academic in Saudi Arabia proposed that the Prophet Muhammad’s body be transferred from the al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque in Medina, to an unmarked grave nearby.

Al-Wahhab is ever-living and does not die. This is merely why Saudi Arabians reject that term because whoever came up with it and whoever keep on using it does not know the slightest thing about islam.

Names of God in Islam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Pak-Americanos]

Al-Wahhab is ever-living and does not die. This is merely why Saudi Arabians reject that term because whoever came up with it and whoever keep on using it does not know the slightest thing about islam.

Names of God in Islam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I agree. Al-Wahab is Allah. But the stupidity of western and even eastern journalist is beyond me. Thus why you have articles like this.

 

[OTTOMAN]

Why Is Saudi Arabia Burying King Abdullah in an Unmarked Grave?

Is it sin or criminal... getting buried in simple and not having fancy name shield on it?
I'm sure if he had wished, otherwise no one would ignore his words, even after his death.

stupidity of western and even eastern journalist is beyond me

They are no stupid... they know about Islam more than us.
They take guidance from Quran, they make social systems following Quranic models, they spent trillions on scientific research on subjects which are mentioned in Quran... man they eat same fruits which are mentioned in Quran.... Europe & US have Sharia laws 90%.
When some one worship Satan, he can't do any harm to Allah... but all he do is conspire against believers.

 

[airmarshal]

I m deeply impressed. This is true Muslim tradition.

Allah says body and soul belongs to Him and once we depart from this world, we are no one here. For a new life begins in the next world.