Bereavement Centre Planned - 01.11.07
Plans to build a £1 million bereavement centre for Muslim families have been revealed.
The Muslim Burial Council of Leicestershire, which has proposed the idea, said it would offer a host of facilities to help people whose loved ones have died.
It could act as a venue where thousands of people could gather to pray.
Counselling for the bereaved would be offered along with facilities for washing bodies according to Islamic faith.
Staff at the centre could help take pressure off bereaved families by helping to organise burials.
The burial council said the plans were still in the early stages and a site had not been identified, but they are hoping to find one in the Highfields or Evington area.
They are currently consulting Leicester City Council and hospital bosses about the idea.
Mr Nagdi said: "It's a centre where Muslims in the city would have just one point of call.
"It would be the first of its kind in the country and Leicestershire would be leading the way.
"In the Muslim community, when a death occurs, there can be many people coming to pay their respects and often there is nowhere to fit them all.
"The centre could also be used for training people such as the police and nursing staff about the religious issues surrounding Muslim burials. The plans are in their infancy at the moment but we have drawn up consultancy documents for the interested parties."
He said the centre would cost "at least" £1 million.
As the burial council - set up 13 years ago - is a non-sectarian body, all parts of the Muslim community would be welcomed to the centre.
Muslims in Leicester said the idea would be of "immense benefit" to the community.
Sughra Ahmed, of Markfield, said: "I know someone who had a death in the family recently where they really didn't know how to deal with it. Something like this would really have helped."
Khadija Ravat, of North Evington, said: "I think that it would really be of immense benefit.
"For any community, the time of bereavement is a difficult time when support is needed."
Fayyaz Suleman, 33, of Highfields, said: "I think definitely it will be welcomed.
"At the moment, if people want to mourn together, they have to take furniture out of their house or take up the next door neighbour's house to fit everyone in.
"When you have funerals in urban areas like Highfields or Belgrave, a lot of cars come in and there can be access problems.
"It would be helpful to have that central point where people could go."
The city council confirmed they had been approached by the burial council with the ideas but said the talks were still in the early stages.
* The burial council last night held a reception at Parklands Leisure Centre, Oadby, to celebrate receiving the Queen's Golden Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service, in recognition of the work done by its many volunteers.
The council's chairman, Suleman Nagdi, said the centre could help ensure funerals - which in Islamic faith should be carried out on the day of death - could run smoothly.Leicester Mercury -
Thursday, 1st November 2007
Written By: smangera
Date Posted: 11/20/2007
Number of Views: 1082
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