How much does a Muslim funeral cost?

In more detail

• Where the money goes

  Usually: the funeral home’s basic services and transport, the washing room, the shroud, the grave plot, and the fee to open and close the grave. Many cemeteries also require a grave liner or vault, and a headstone, if you want one, is often priced separately.

  Federal Trade Commission, The FTC Funeral Rule

• Buy only what you want

  Funeral homes must tell you their prices by phone, and give you a printed, itemized price list in person. You may choose only the items you want; the one charge you usually cannot refuse is the basic services fee. Embalming is not required by law except in certain special cases, and they must not tell you it is needed for an immediate burial when refrigeration is available and state or local law does not require it.

  FTC Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453.2(b)(1), eCFR · Funeral Industry Practices (FTC Funeral Rule), 16 CFR 453.2(b)(4), eCFR · FTC Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453.4(b), eCFR · FTC Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453.3(a), eCFR

• The cemetery is priced separately

  The FTC Funeral Rule does not apply to cemeteries without a funeral home on site, so the grave plot and opening and closing the grave, often the largest costs, fall outside it. Ask the cemetery for its prices in writing.

  Federal Trade Commission (consumer.ftc.gov), The FTC Funeral Rule

• The estate pays first

  The funeral is paid from the estate first, before debts and before anything is inherited. If the estate cannot cover it, family and the community step in.

  al-Sirājiyyah (al-Sajāwandī), opening chapter