Page:Thomas Patrick Hughes - Notes on Muhammadanism - 2ed. (1877).djvu/212

 Rh grave. The corpse is then placed on its back in the grave, with the head to the north and feet to the south, the face being turned towards Mecea. The persons who place the corpse in the grave repeat the following sentence: "We commit thee to earth in the name of God and in the religion of the Prophet."

The bands of the shroud having been loosed, the recess, which is called the láhd, is closed in with unburnt bricks and the grave filled in with earth. In some countries it is usual to recite the Súrat i Twá Háh as the clods: of earth are thrown into the grave; but this practice is objected to by the Wahhábís, and by many learned divines. This chapter is as follows:—

"From it (the earth) have We (God) created you, and unto it will We return you, and out of it will We bring you forth the second time."

After the burial, the people offer a fátihah (i.e., the first chapter of the Qurán) in the name of the deceased, and again when they have proceeded about forty paces from the grave they offer another fátihah; for at this juncture, it is said, the two angels Munkar and