Muslim burials in cemeteries in Germany

Online seminar 2025

The online seminar includes the following dates:
Mon, 16 June 2025, 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Tue, 17 June 2025, 9.30 am to 1.00 pm
Mon, 23 June 2025, 9.30 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.
Tue, 24 June 2025, 9.30 am to 12.45 pm

Organised by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedhof und Denkmal e. V., Central Institute and Museum for Sepulchral Culture, Weinbergstraße 25-27 | 34117 Kassel, info@sepulkralmuseum.de | www.sepulkralmuseum.de

With Gerold Eppler M. A. and Dr Dagmar Kuhle

Many people of the Muslim faith who die in Germany are still sent for burial to countries from which a previous generation immigrated. One reason for this is German burial law, which is difficult to reconcile with a large proportion of Muslim burial rites. This concerns, for example, the wish for a coffinless burial, the wish for a burial within one day, the wish to dig the grave themselves and for eternal rest for the grave. However, more and more Islamic burial plots are now being created in cemeteries in Germany in order to give people of the Muslim faith the opportunity to be buried - at least to a large extent - according to the rules of their religion, and the first Islamic cemetery has been initiated. Cemetery administrations are called upon to organise the coexistence of different cultures in a way that is compatible for everyone involved.

In the seminar, Islamic burial grounds and associated facilities at the participants' cemeteries will be presented and discussed with regard to religious, social, economic, cultural-design and legal aspects. As attention usually wanes more quickly in front of a screen than in personal contact, the seminar is spread over four mornings.

Speakers:

Amir Mahmood Ahmed studied Islamic Studies at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and is a full-time funeral counsellor for Muslims; he is an alumnus of the AIWG, where he worked as a practice fellow on the project ‘Social burials of Muslims - A guide for practice’.

Gerold Eppler M.A. is a stone sculptor and art educator, deputy managing director of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedhof und Denkmal e.V. and deputy director of the Museum für Sepulkralkultur.

Matthias Sören Holland is a notary in Oranienburg / Berlin and author of the publication: Muslimische Bestattungsriten und deutsches Friedhofs- und Bestattungsrecht, KWI-Arbeitshefte 23, Universitätsverlag Potsdam. He regularly gives lectures on this topic.

Dr.-Ing. Dagmar Kuhle is a landscape and open space planner and works in the advisory department of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedhof und Denkmal e.V. (Cemetery and Monument Association).

Prof. Dr Thomas Lemmen is head of the part-time Master's programme ‘Interreligious Dialogue Competence’ at the Catholic University of Applied Sciences North Rhine-Westphalia. His main areas of work and research are Islam in Germany, in particular Muslim organisations and questions of religious practice, as well as the foundations and practice of Christian-Islamic dialogue. He was a research fellow at the AIWG on the topic: ‘Islamic burials in Germany: A review of the adaptation of burial law regulations of federal states and municipalities to the religious needs and expectations of Muslims in Germany’. He is the author of the report ‘Islamische Grabfelder und Bestattungen auf deutschen Friedhöfen’ published by the AIWG in 2023 with accompanying texts by Dr Özgür Uludağ.

Samir Schabel M.A. is an educationalist, Islamic theologian, full-time software engineer in Hamburg and AIWG alumnus. As a practice fellow, he worked on the project ‘Religion- and culture-sensitive grief counselling: setting up a grief café for Muslims’.

Vildane Uludağ Abdelatif founded the first institute for Islamic funerals in Hamburg in 1994. She was involved in an advisory capacity in the conception of the Muslim ablution and prayer centre in the Finkenriek cemetery in Hamburg.

Dr Özgür Uludağ founded the Islamic funeral and transfer institute Uludağ-Cenaze together with his sister Vildane Uludağ Abdelatif in 1994 and buried or transferred deceased Muslims as a funeral director for many years. At the same time, he studied Islamic Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Turkish Studies and Sociology of Migration in Hamburg. He is an alumnus of the AIWG. His book ‘Islamische Bestattungen in Deutschland’ was published in 2023, for which there is a multimedia information page of the same name.

Registration deadline:

19 May 2025

Minimum number of participants: 7 people
Maximum number of participants: 10 people

Costs:

Participation fee: 300 euros; members of the working group: 250 euros.

Registration at:

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedhof und Denkmal e. V.
Zentralinstitut und Museum für Sepulkralkultur
Ines Niedermeyer, Sekretariat
Weinbergstraße 25 - 27, 34117 Kassel
E-Mail: info@sepulkralmuseum.de
Tel.: 0561-91893-40

Cancellation policy:

If you are unable to attend after registration, please inform us by 19 May 2025, otherwise we will have to charge you the full fee. You have the option of nominating a replacement participant at any time free of charge.

Data protection:

Your registration data is required solely for the purpose of registration and is subject to data protection.