Muslim funerals during the pandemic: socially distanced death, burial and bereavement experienced by British-Bangladeshis in London and Edinburgh

Since the pandemic surged in the UK, funerals across all religions and secular sectors, for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-related deaths, took on a new character, due to the adherence of necessary social distancing rules. This created added demands and stresses for both funeral service providers and mourners, as funeral directories were struggling to manage an excessive number of funerals, as well as ensuring necessary precautions for the safety of funeral staff. The Muslim religion constitutes the second largest religion after Christianity in the UK; the majority of followers have South-Asian ancestry (Office for National Statistics [ONS], 2011). Funeral rites play a significant role for Muslims, both theologically and socially (Jahangir and Hamid, 2020); therefore, some families were saddened by the socially distanced funerals and the omission of some rituals that they expected for their beloved ones (Parveen, 2020).