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Funeral may show if Michael Jackson converted to Islam
One of the many rumours that swirled around Michael Jackson in the final
years of his life was that he had secretlyconverted
to Islam and taken the name
Mikaeel. The “King of Pop” does not seem to have spoken about this publicly
himself, and that scene in Bahrain when he went shopping badly
disguised in an Arab woman’s abaya could
be put down to his well-known penchant for dressing up. So unless there is some
statement in his will or documentary evidence in his estate, his funeral
expected this week may be the last time to test whether this rumour has any
basis in fact.
(Photo: Veiled Jackson greets security
guard as he enters shopping mall in Manama, Bahrain with veiled child, 25 Jan
2006/Hamad Mohammed)
The Jacksons are Jehovah’s Witnesses and could be expected to bury Michael in
the tradition of that faith. When he announced the death, his brother Jermaine —
a Muslim — ended with the words: “May
Allah be with you, Michael, always.” Jermaine
said in 2007 he was trying
to convince Michael to convert.
The post-mortem period hasn’t looked very Muslim so far. Traditions vary, but
inIslamic
funeral practices in general,
autopsies and cremation are out and the body should be buried quickly, usually
in a day or two. Jackson is reported to have asked for cremation in his will and
his family has asked for a
second autopsy after the first
one failed to pinpoint the cause of death without long toxicology tests.
Jehovah’s Witnesses prefer short and simple funerals, usually with a
Scripture reading, and warn
adherents against funerals with
emotional outbursts ranging “from
frantic wailing and shouting in the presence of the corpse to joyous festivities
after the burial. Unrestrained feasting, drunkenness, and dancing to loud music
often characterize such funeral celebrations.”
The focal point of an Islamic funeral is the funeral prayer called the salat
al-janazah. An imam facing Mecca leads the faithful in saying the
prayer, punctuated by declarations of Allahu
Akbar. The corpse of the deceased is placed perpendicular to the qibla,
the direction of Mecca in which all worshippers are standing, rather than in the
same direction as the faithful as usual in a Christian funeral.
The funeral service could be in the Jehovah’s Witness style, it could be
Islamic or it could be a mix of the two (maybe even with borrowings from other
traditions as well). If Michael Jackson’s artistic career is anything to go by,
the third option wouldn’t be a surprise at all.
