Recently, the issue of the absence of a crematorium in the country has been repeatedly raised in the Azerbaijani society. Population growth in large cities, and first of all in the capital, has led to a shortage of places for burial in cemeteries, Vesti.az reports.
Many residents of the country, regardless of religion, express a desire to be cremated after death. They prefer this ritual as more ecological and simple in light of the current situation.
According to the head of one of the ritual offices in Baku, Aydin M., they were repeatedly approached about the manufacture of coffins for further cremation. But it is not yet possible to realize the desires of customers. And all because there is still no crematorium in Azerbaijan. Although the question of the need for its creation has been discussed more than once.
The main opponents of ritual cremation have always been representatives of leading religious denominations.
In a conversation with Vesti.Az, the authorized representative of the chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office Shahin Hasanli spoke out categorically against this ritual.
“From ancient times, the arrival of a person in this world and departure from it were considered the greatest miracle, and were always accompanied by special rituals - washing, wrapping in a shroud, reading surahs from the Koran, etc. Funeral rites were observed even in the Soviet years, when religion was in disgrace. People do not imagine the philosophy of life otherwise. Cremation is alien to Muslims precisely for this reason, because in Islam each rite of ritual symbolizes some kind of truth. Neither Sharia nor Muslims themselves support cremation.
The cemetery for us is not only a place of remembrance of the deceased, but also a kind of "portal" to another world. A visit to it makes a person reconsider his views and actions. And cremation is a ritual that symbolizes the disappearance into oblivion, the betrayal of a person after death into oblivion, ”he said.
In turn, the secretary of the Baku and Azerbaijan diocese, Archimandrite Alexy (Nikonorov), said that the Russian Orthodox Church considers “the burial of deceased Christians in the ground to be the norm”, and treats cremation “with indulgence”, and in no case deprives the cremated person and his relatives of their prayers and consolation.
“The Orthodox Church never says that cremation deprives a person of hope for eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. The early Christian apologist and Roman lawyer Marcus Minucius Felix clearly articulated the attitude of Christians towards various burial rites: “We are not afraid of any damage in any way of burial, but we adhere to the old and best custom - to bury the body in the earth.” This point of view remains unchanged in our days,” the priest explained.
But the Catholic Church, as a result of a long controversy that took place during the Second Vatican Council, came to the conclusion that cremation for Christians is permissible if it is a generally accepted tradition in the place of residence of the deceased, such as in Japan. This was reported to Vesti.Az by the head of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan, Bishop Vladimir Fekete.
According to him, during cremation, the remains of the deceased must be treated with respect, ashes are not allowed to be scattered both in the wind and over water and land.
“Man, as a physical and spiritual being, was created by God. Therefore, even after death, the body should be respected, funeral rituals should comply with the fundamental canons of the Christian faith. As for the ashes, it must be kept in such a way as to preserve the memory of the deceased and pray for him,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, according to Jewish canons, cremation is strictly prohibited. Sigal Shneor, Chief Rabbi of the Community of European Jews of Azerbaijan, announced this.
“The sacred Torah says that God created the first man from the earth. Therefore, he must return to the earth. When a person's body is burned, his soul suffers. Therefore, this ritual is forbidden in Judaism. One day I was approached by a family living abroad. They wanted to bury the deceased in Baku, but were unable to deliver the body to Azerbaijan. Therefore, they decided to cremate him, and bring the ashes here. I explained to them that the soul of the deceased would suffer from this. And this is not the only case,” the rabbi said.
Some proponents of cremation have proposed setting up a crematorium on a private basis. But at the moment this issue is being resolved at the state level. And what will be the outcome of the discussion that has flared up in society is still unknown.
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