Burial Rituals and Building Tombs in Abrahamic Religions: A Comparative Study

The article discusses some traditions attributed to the Prophet of Islam, which prohibit Muslims from building tombs associated with Judeo-Christian behaviors. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, the authors compare the burial practices of Abrahamic religions and the treatment of their co-religionists' tombs and corpses. Although there are similarities between these religions with regards to burial practices, there are also sharp differences. For instance, in Judaism and Christianity, it took a long historical distance and gap to build tombs over the dead graves. In contrast, the process of building tombs in Islam dates back to the period of the Prophet Muhammad himself. Some traditions suggest that the Prophet himself violated the sayings attributed to him regarding not making pilgrimage to the tombs. It is argued that this prohibition was set to counter Judeo-Christian and pre-Islamic cultural manifestations.