Converging and Diverting at the Time of Death Exploratory Routes for the Study of Death Among Muslims and Jews in Britain

Abstract

AbstractDespite the existing wealth of literature on death studies, research on death rites among Muslim and Jews is still scarce. The present article is an exploration of literature on death studies that will help us to elaborate a conceptual frame which may allow the study of death in Jewish and Muslim communities to be better understood. It examines the uneasy relationship between religion and death studies by looking in particular at Islam and Judaism and it explores potential lines of research for further developing the academic field of Jewish and Muslim mortuary practices. It argues that central to our understanding of religious death cultures is an appreciation of the nuanced ways in which the universal and local dimensions of world religions like Judaism and Islam emerge. It presents some examples to illustrate how written and fieldwork sources can be used in the study of death in Judaism and Islam with the aim of considering the general as it is illuminated by the particularities of specific case‐studies.