Jakarta – The Lubuklinggau, South Sumatra, chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has urged authorities to dig up deceased COVID-19 patients buried at a cemetery in the area because they are not oriented toward the qibla – the direction of the Kaaba in Saudi Arabia.
The request came after several residents complained that the region's COVID-19 cemetery defied Islamic burial rites, which require deceased Muslims to be buried with their heads in the direction the qibla.
MUI Lubuklinggau chapter deputy chairman Fami Atiq said he had delivered the complaints to the city administration and its COVID-19 task force during a meeting on Monday.
"We have asked [...] the religious affairs ministry and the COVID-19 task force to [...] fix the graves' positions because they are not facing the qibla," Fahmi said on Tuesday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.
He added that families of COVID-19 victims should be allowed to bathe and enshroud the deceased as required by Islamic burial rituals.
Responding to the complaints, the Lubuklinggau Public Housing Agency said it would not exhume bodies that had already been interred but would correct the position of bodies in future burials. The agency is authorized to manage COVID-19 cemeteries.
"We'll make technical improvements regarding the bodies' direction. It would not be good if we had to exhume the existing graves," the agency's public road, cemetery and park division head Misno said on Wednesday.
He added that the agency had explained to the MUI that past burials of COVID-19 victims were performed with heavy machinery, so it was difficult to ensure that the bodies were facing the qibla.
The MUI, Misno said, had agreed to the agency's decision to correct the positioning of bodies in future burials. (mfp)