# How come muslim funerals in the USA aren't burned on a pyre? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122 "2013-02-22T22:17:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/21 "2013-02-25T22:39:28Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I’ve always wondered something about India, do any local authorities make use of “industrial” crematoriums to cremate dead bodies en masse? Not that I’ve heard of. I doubt very much that it would be considered a priority of any kind, given all the other deficiencies in basic services. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/22 "2013-02-25T23:12:15Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Isn’t only **the eating** of pork forbidden? If so, why shouldn’t an observant Jews slaughter pigs? Why would it be forbidden to help others (in this case a gentile) not observe Jewish law? You’re also not allowed to touch their carcasses. Leviticus 11:7-8 ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/23 "2013-02-25T23:19:13Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I’ve always wondered something about India, do any local authorities make use of “industrial” crematoriums to cremate dead bodies en masse? No. Funeral rites are very personal to the deceased and the family. Only during extreme disasters are people known to have used en masse cremations. Some examples are : a\> Black death (Bubonic Plague) in Europe - hence the ashes ashes line to the famous rhyme. b\> Tsunamis As far as I know, there were no cremations during the American Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/24 "2013-02-26T02:45:09Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > Grew up as a Hindu in India. A properly made pyre gets hot enough so not much is left. You are right though - poor people do skimp on the wood > > Not true .. [see this](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/41347202/ns/us_news-life/#.USvMNaWzf6Y) > > Who is we in your sentence ? Different native Americans had different cultures - some left them in the snow to be eaten by animals, California tribes practiced cremation, some left their body on stakes – [cite](http://www.deathreference.com/Me-Nu/Native-American-Religion.html). Vikings and Romans also used funeral pyres -[cite](http://www.deathreference.com/Me-Nu/Native-American-Religion.html) > > No culture likes to have half burnt human bodies around and no culture likes having rotting human bodies either - but that’s what a burial does. We as in main stream modern American culture. I thought that was pretty obvious by the context. I obviously was not talking about Vikings. Interesting article you linked. But it does say right up front that it is the only place in the entire country that has funeral pyres. The one exception does not invalidate the rest. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/25 "2013-02-26T03:22:19Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > a\> Black death (Bubonic Plague) in Europe - hence the ashes ashes line to the famous rhyme. [Urban](http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.asp) [legend](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Around_the_Rosie). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/26 "2013-02-26T05:00:14Z")
Do the venders walk through the crowds? Singing, “Get your marshmallows, Get your marshmallows, tasty, gooey goodness on a stick. Get them now while the pyre fire is hot.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/27 "2013-02-26T05:14:53Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Interesting, but clearly not about VERY Jewish one, of course unless we have different scales of observance. A strict Orthodox Jew would not run a service with a crematorium, which is a forbidden funeral practice. Forbidden for Jews, but not for Gentiles - and one can be VERY Jewish and be, oh, Reform, or Sefaradi. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/28 "2013-02-26T05:23:09Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > a\> Black death (Bubonic Plague) in Europe - hence the ashes ashes line to the famous rhyme. What rhyme? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/29 "2013-02-26T05:25:37Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > What rhyme? [Ring Around the Rosie.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Around_the_Rosie) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/30 "2013-02-26T05:31:18Z")
Thank you, much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/31 "2013-02-26T05:39:56Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Thank you, much appreciated. De nada. 🙂 Ring any bells? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/32 "2013-02-26T06:12:30Z")
Shrug, I knew the name as “an English-language children’s rhyme”, but don’t ask me to hum it. Maybe because of the current cultural dominance, but for some reason Anglos always expect everybody else to be familiar with details of their own culture of which they know pretty much nothing about other cultures, such as favorite brands, childhood rhymes, or non-top-40 songs. Sorry, most of us just don’t, and it can be very frustrating. Story told before: in Scotland we kept reading and hearing all these references to Auld Lang Syne; the few times we dared ask people would stare and repeat the name, and a couple of them apparently decided we were trying to pull their legs and took offence - how could we be asking, in all sincerity, “what is Auld Lang Syne?” Once I had a lightbulb moment and YouTubed it, we discovered it was “that song they always play in banquets in American movies”; wikipedia told us it wasn’t “in banquets”, it was “in New Year’s Eve”. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. We barely knew it as “something they play in movies”, but people expected us to know it like we knew _Maitechu mía_ or _Adiós con el corazón_ - which we would not have expected someone from another culture to know. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/33 "2013-02-26T14:22:42Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > You’re also not allowed to touch their carcasses. Leviticus 11:7-8 Only for people named Cohen. 🙂 Ie, people who are from/in the priest (Kohen) line, the topics of much of Leviticus. No need for Corpse Goy. In fact, the Chevre Kadishim, a volunteer group which wraps, dresses, and prepares the corpse, is a quite respected and honored group. Somewheres it’s said that honoring the dead in this way is the greatest act of charity of them all, in that there is no way for the recipient to give thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/34 "2013-02-26T14:36:24Z")
I believe that **Punoqllads** was referring to pig carcasses. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/35 "2013-02-26T15:04:14Z")
Sorry, didn’t look up the Biblical cite. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/36 "2013-02-26T16:15:51Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Shrug, I knew the name as “an English-language children’s rhyme”, but don’t ask me to hum it. Maybe because of the current cultural dominance, but for some reason Anglos always expect everybody else to be familiar with details of their own culture of which they know pretty much nothing about other cultures, such as favorite brands, childhood rhymes, or non-top-40 songs. Sorry, most of us just don’t, and it can be very frustrating. Why do you consider it so onerous to have to ask when you run into something unfamiliar? On this board, it’s not that Anglo-Americans expect everyone else to be familiar with every cultural artifact, but we just don’t know how to anticipate which ones will need explanation and which ones don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/37 "2013-02-26T17:23:32Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > De nada. 🙂 Ring any bells? > [@Nava](#): > > Shrug, I knew the name as “an English-language children’s rhyme”, but don’t ask me to hum it. Maybe because of the current cultural dominance, but for some reason Anglos always expect everybody else to be familiar with details of their own culture of which they know pretty much nothing about other cultures, such as favorite brands, childhood rhymes, or non-top-40 songs. Sorry, most of us just don’t, and it can be very frustrating. > > Story told before: in Scotland we kept reading and hearing all these references to Auld Lang Syne; the few times we dared ask people would stare and repeat the name, and a couple of them apparently decided we were trying to pull their legs and took offence - how could we be asking, in all sincerity, “what is Auld Lang Syne?” Once I had a lightbulb moment and YouTubed it, we discovered it was “that song they always play in banquets in American movies”; wikipedia told us it wasn’t “in banquets”, it was “in New Year’s Eve”. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. We barely knew it as “something they play in movies”, but people expected us to know it like we knew _Maitechu mía_ or _Adiós con el corazón_ - which we would not have expected someone from another culture to know. I am not every Anglo whose ignorance you’ve ever rolled your eyes at, easy as it may be for that to be your default. Since the page I posted included a link to play the melody, I was asking if it sounded familiar in some local variant to you. I’m sorry for the frustration you felt in Scotland when you asked about a Scottish song and other people in Scotland showed surprise that you were in Scotland but weren’t familiar w/ an oft-mentioned Scottish song. I don’t go to Canada and ask what that song is they play before every hockey game b/c I acquainted myself w/ the culture before going there. And if I did ask, I wouldn’t be so rude as to expect people to know what someone who isn’t from there would be ignorant about. On topic, I thought of another reason why pyres may not be allowed in the States; it happens sometimes (though not as often these days, I’m sure) that a widow is \*\*strongly \*\*encouraged to [join her dead husband on the pyre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_%28practice%29). This being suicide, it’s illegal in the States. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/38 "2013-02-26T17:35:14Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > We as in main stream modern American culture. I thought that was pretty obvious by the context. I obviously was not talking about Vikings. [From Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_States) : The culture of the United States is too diverse and multicultural to be considered an actual culture. It is primarily a Western culture, but is also influenced by Native American, African, Asian, Polynesian, and Latin American cultures. In that spirit - analyzing influences as in my post was relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/39 "2013-02-26T17:45:34Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > On topic, I thought of another reason why pyres may not be allowed in the States; it happens sometimes (though not as often these days, I’m sure) that a widow is \*\*strongly \*\*encouraged to [join her dead husband on the pyre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_%28practice%29). This being suicide, it’s illegal in the States. Okay, my turn to rolleyes. This is _not_ “strongly encouraged” as a matter of mainstream Hindu practice. In fact, it’s illegal under Indian law. There are occasionally a few fringe cases, which are largely manufactured for media attention. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122/40 "2013-02-26T19:33:24Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Why do you consider it so onerous to have to ask when you run into something unfamiliar? On this board, it’s not that Anglo-Americans expect everyone else to be familiar with every cultural artifact, but we just don’t know how to anticipate which ones will need explanation and which ones don’t. I don’t consider it onerous to have to ask, but I have had too many experiences of people taking such questions badly. And **Nawth Chucka** , the thanks were sincere and the criticism was not directed to you. No, it doesn’t ring any bells. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-muslim-funerals-in-the-usa-arent-burned-on-a-pyre/651122.md?page=3)