When the day comes: walking beside a loved one, step by step

The first hours

Within the first 24 to 48 hours

The tradition encourages not delaying the burial without need. Things move quickly: here is the order.

Confirm and declare the death

• Have the death confirmed by a doctor, who issues the medical death certificate.
• Declare the death at the town hall (mairie) of the place (in practice within 24 hours), which issues the death certificate (acte de décès): ask for several copies, they will be needed everywhere.
• Inform a mosque and, if the family wishes, a Muslim funeral provider: they know the formalities and the Muslim section of the cemetery.

The washing and the prayer

• The ritual washing (ghusl) is performed by people of the same sex as the deceased, with modesty. It is reported that what is seen there is kept private.
• The shroud (kafan) is simple and white, without excessive spending, as is reported of the tradition.
• The funeral prayer (janāza) is performed, ideally with many people present. It is reported that their intercession is hoped for.

The burial

• In France, placing the body in a coffin is compulsory, and burial takes place between 24 hours and 6 working days (prefectural exemptions exist). The Muslim section of a cemetery is a facility granted by the mayor: enquire in neighbouring towns if needed.
• For repatriation, a sealed coffin and consular formalities are required. Repatriation insurance, if any, is in the deceased's file.
• The funeral costs are settled first from the deceased's estate (a point all the schools agree on). On presentation of the invoice, the bank may take them from the deceased's accounts.

The first weeks

The first two to four weeks

Notify the organisations

• The bank (accounts in the deceased's sole name are frozen until the estate is settled), the insurers (including life insurance: the named beneficiary claims it directly), the employer or France Travail (the public employment service, formerly Pôle emploi), the pension fund, the health-insurance fund (CPAM), the family-allowance fund (CAF).
• The landlord or the building manager, then subscriptions such as energy, telephone and press to cancel or transfer.
• Keep a single file with several copies of the death certificate and the family record book (livret de famille).

Make an appointment with the notaire

The notaire (the French notary) opens the succession, searches the central register (FCDDV) for any will, establishes who inherits, and organises the division. Bring whatever the deceased had prepared (their will template, their inventory, their Janāza sheet if they had one).

Each heir's choice

Before accepting, each heir has a choice to make with the notaire: accept, accept only up to what the deceased leaves (so as not to pay their debts out of one's own property), or renounce. If there is any doubt about the debts (loans, sums owed, deposits to return), do not sign anything irreversible before discussing it with the notaire.

What soothes

• Condolences are simple, preferably within three days. It is reported that the bereaved family is not to be burdened with hosting. Those around them prepare food for them.
• Tears are not wrong. Loud wailing is to be avoided.
• Rather than flowers: a supplication, a charity in the deceased's name, a wrong put right. That is what reaches them.

The first months

The first months, up to the division

The order of things

Before any division: return the deposits (amāna) held for others, and settle the deceased's debts. The deceased may have kept a register (Daftar): it will guide you. An unpaid zakāt is then settled, with the help of a competent person (an imam, a scholar), as are the other obligations they had noted down.

The succession and the division

• The notaire establishes the devolution under French law (which reserves for the children a protected share, divided equally among them) and any provisions of the will, within the limit of the disposable portion.
• If the family wishes to follow a division inspired by the farā'iḍ (the prescribed inheritance shares) beyond that limit, it is done only by the free and notarised consent of all the heirs, never under pressure.
• A sadaqa jāriya (a charity that keeps acting) made in the deceased's name, whether a bequest they had planned or a gift from the family, still reaches them.

For the widow

The Law prescribes for the widow a waiting period (ʿidda) of four months and ten days. If she is pregnant, it lasts until she gives birth (Qur'an 2:234 and 65:4). It is lived within one's means, with necessity (work, safety) taken into account. Let no one impose beyond what the Law asks.

Later on

Visiting the graves is a reminder of the hereafter. It is done with dignity and without wailing. It is not reported from the tradition that mourning be fixed to set dates such as the fortieth day or anniversaries. What is encouraged, without a date, is supplication and charity. On such customs, your family will follow the guidance of its references.