African clerics denounce scandalous refusal of burial
Deceased woman in Senegal was denied burial in the cemetery of her village because she was a member of a lower caste
Religious leaders in Senegal have expressed indignation after a Muslim woman was refused burial in the cemetery of her home village because she belonged to an “inferior” caste.
Khady Faye died on December 25 and her family had planned to bury her in the cemetery of Pout-Dagné, their village in western Senegal.
But local officials blocked them on the grounds that Faye belonged to the "griot" caste, which is considered "inferior" in this West African country.
Tired of fighting, the family ended up burying her in another village some seven kilometers away.
Following the numerous denunciations coming from all sectors of Senegalese society, a number of Muslim clerics pointed out that denying Faye’s burial violated the ethics of Islam.
"Islamic legislation tells us that any person who dies, whatever their morality or ethnicity, must be buried in the conditions established by the Prophet, if only for respect of their human dignity," explained Imam Moctar Ndiaye, communications officer for the Association of Imams and Ulemas of Senegal.
Discrimination
He said Islam does not recognize the existence of castes, ancestry or social classes. Ndiaye stated that it is "unjust and illegal" to refuse burial for a person.
"She has rights and dignity. We must bury where we bury Muslims," the imam continued.
"Burial is fundamental, whatever the person might have been," he added.
"The barometer for nobility in Islam is not measured based upon the color of the person, nor their wealth, nor their ethnicity, nor their ancestry," said Imam Mouhamadou Makhtar Kanté, head of a mosque in Dakar.
"We can understand that for confessional reasons, people can arrange cemeteries, according to their beliefs," he acknowledged.
But he said it is "incomprehensible" that within the Muslim community "there is discrimination on the grounds of so-called castes, ethnicities, nobles, lesser nobles".
"Islam does not recognize classification," Kanté insisted.
"All people have the same dignity. That is why, in Islamic law, even when a person whose religion is unknown dies, he or she is taken care of and buried in a proper manner," he said.
Father Séraphin Raphaël Ntab, a professor of dogmatic theology and pastor of a parish in Kolda Diocese, said Catholics hold the same position.
"The Catholic Church does not make a difference between races, ethnic groups, etc.," he said.
The search for a solution
Imam Kanté was adamant that what happened in Pout-Dagné is not an Islamic practice.
"These are practices of the negro-African tradition. It is true that there were these stories of castes at the origin of these practices," he said.
In light of the outcry over the incident, local authorities and villagers are exploring ways to resolve the crisis.