Greenacres Eternal Gardens Saff burials

GreenAcres approach to dealing with the COVID-19 deaths in the Muslim community

The Funeral Industry is undoubtedly facing unprecedented times due to COVID-19. It is encouraging however to see the bereavement sector pulling together to face these challenges, ensuring teams are protected, whilst continuing to provide an empathetic service to bereaved families.

GreenAcres believe in a collaborative approach with bereavement professionals, specialists and communities including faith groups, in finding solutions that are both caring and respectful for families at their time of need.

Sadly, the number of deaths in the Muslim community due to COVID-19 is increasing rapidly, with London reported to be one of the largest hit areas in England. Eternal Gardens, a sister organisation of GreenAcres, based in Chislehurst (which forms part of the GreenAcres Kemnal Park site) has seen a sudden increase in burials, with the demand now more than 10 times higher than usual.

The Islamic faith requires that the burial of the deceased takes place as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours. With a national shortage of grave diggers and growing demand, GreenAcres as a group has pooled its resources to support Eternal Gardens but has still found it near on impossible to deal with the demand. The time delay in burials has understandably left the community devastated by the reality of COVID-19.

Being one of two recognised dedicated Muslim cemeteries in London, the Eternal Gardens team led by Asif Hassanali proactively approached Islamic Scholars seeking to find a resolution to the situation and meet the faith’s requirement for an immediate burial. Following discussions Eternal Gardens developed and introduced the Saff burial method to help the Muslim families in a timely manner.

A ‘Saff’ grave meaning ’in a row’ in Arabic, measures 10 metres x 2 metres. With the expertise of Cemetery Design Services, Eternal Gardens have now been able to design graves of this nature. This not only ensures the digging process is efficient by taking half a day to dig with a mechanical digger, it also ensures respect and dignity for the deceased. Four of the Saff graves have been completed so far with a further six planned if the needs of the community require them.

Surrounded by wood and earth, each Saff grave allows for 10 deceased to be buried at the same service, with individual natural chambers created, as per Islamic ritual. Each deceased will be buried in a shroud (where permissible) with their faces turned towards Mecca, in keeping with the faith.

In keeping with social distancing guidance, family members have been limited to one representative to attend, with the Imam (a faith leader) and the Funeral Director alongside members of Eternal Gardens, all present to witness the burial and carry out the service. Following the burial, the team will take pictures of the grave with the temporary marker, showing the individual grave number and name, and send it to the family once all the graves have been backfilled.

Richard Gomersall, Special Projects Manager at Eternal Gardens said:

‘A large number of the funerals we are dealing with are due to COVID-19 and we simply cannot keep up with demand by burying people in individual plots. We worked with Islamic scholars to see how we could speed up the number of burials and agreed on the Saff graves, which are in accordance with the requirements of Muslim faith. We respect the needs of the community and are proactively caring for them to try and ease their suffering.’

The GreenAcres and Eternal Gardens team will be available to assist members of the industry to better understand the Islamic practices and guide the cemeteries around the UK to help the community in such an unprecedented situation.