In Islamic tradition burial normally takes place fairly rapidly after a person’s death either on the same day or the next. The corpse is ritually washed and wrapped in cloth. Customs in some villages require hired women mourners to display grief by wailing loudly. The deceased, in a simple coffin, is carried in procession to a neighbouring mosque where the Imam recites funerary prayers.

The procession then proceeds to the cemetery where the corpse is removed from the coffin and interred in a brick and plaster tomb, placed on its right side so that the head faces the direction of the holy city of Mecca. Male and female burials are segregated. Traditions of tombstones or markers vary, from anonymous stones to inscribed superstructures or elaborate shrines in mosques.

One feature of an Egyptian funeral is the setting up of a pavilion in which male mourners gather to remember the deceased. Inside the pavilion are rows of gilded chairs and tables for coffee cups. These pavilions are designed and produced by the khiyamiya or tentmakers, skilled craftsmen whose profession can be traced back to medieval times. Sadly this handicraft tradition is under threat from textile mills producing ready printed designs.