Do Beliefs on Afterlife Impact Funerals?

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christian funerals mississaugaPeople may not realize this but there is actually a relationship between funerals and the beliefs of a certain person regarding afterlife. The beliefs of a person on different aspects of life are hugely contributed by his or her religion.

Religion is almost like a set of beliefs that people use throughout their lives. Depending on a person’s religion, the family will do some activities that are unique to that tradition to assist the deceased in afterlife.

Christian Belief

Christianity always imposes that death is not the end of a person’s life since it is the start of a life with Jesus in heaven. This belief is being reflected in the funerals by the prayers and funeral songs that are sung. These prayers are believed to help cleanse the souls of their sins to help them enter heaven.

Islamic Belief

The Islamic belief is also different. Muslims believe that the life that we have now is given by Allah, therefore, it can be taken away by Allah anytime without any warning.

A Muslim funeral will celebrate how their loved one has used the time that Allah gave him or her in this world. That is why it is always reiterated in Islam to live a good life for this is the only chance that we will be getting.

Buddhist Belief

Buddhists also have a unique way in conducting funerals. The belief of Buddhists about afterlife actually differs depending on the type of Buddhism that they practice.

Tibetan Buddhists practice the act of letting the birds feed on the remains of the deceased. This is because they believe that, by doing the act people will be able to thank the entire animal kingdom in the promulgation of the life of human beings.

There are also people who do not have any religion. Most of these people do not believe in afterlife too. There are funeral poems that will be recited during their service instead of prayers. Most of these people also ask for their ashes to be spread in different places. This is their way of repaying the earth for all the help that they got when they were still alive.