Abu Mumin is a Muslim social worker from London who is part of an organization called Eden Care which works with terminally ill people who need care and support at the end of their lives. Though the majority of the sick are Muslim, the organization also provides care for non-Muslims, with the clear goal that the deceased will have funeral arrangements according to their faith or non-faith.
Eden Care was established in 2014, and since then, Mr. Mumin and his volunteers have helped bury 52 people while also befriending many other terminally ill people. “We spend the evenings with them to give them company,” says Mr. Mumin. “We take food, do activities, we read the Quran, and even take them on trips to places they can’t visit because of their physical disabilities.”
The personal obligations for Muslims to not only look after the sick, but to provide a proper burial for the deceased, according to Islamic rites, are clear motivators. Abdul Azim Ahmed, an Islamic scholar, says that “both historically and today, a funeral remains a social obligation, what is defined as ‘fard kifayah’ in Islamic theology.” Mr. Mumin also makes the important point that by the year 2030, there will be a quarter of a million Muslims over the age of 65. “We need to concentrate on this issue of care.”
