Concern builds on Long Island over lack of space for Muslim cemeteries
PLAINVIEW, N.Y. -- In the Muslim religion, Muslims should be buried in a cemetery with those who share their faith. This is similar to how Catholic and Jewish cemeteries are operated.
But as the Muslim population in our area increases, more space is needed.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported Monday, there is no room left at the cemeteries and the Muslim community feels hurt and anxious.
"It is a dire situation because there is no more room left," said Nayyar Imam, president of the Muslim Alliance of Long Island.
Imam says his community is growing desperate. There are no Muslim cemeteries in New York City and the only one on Long Island with a Muslim section -- Washington Memorial in Mt. Sinai -- is full.
"And it's very difficult to find a place. We had a meeting with board of cemetery in Albany," Imam said.
He discovered that in the last century regulations and zoning laws have mostly prevented new cemeteries from being built in the state.
"In the Muslim tradition, when an individual dies burial has to be ASAP," said Dr. Isma Chaudhry of the Islamic Center of Long Island.
Chaudhry says for 10 years the organization has been trying to secure land.
"We do understand that land is precious, especially for this need, but rituals of dying and rituals of burial, that is very precious as well," Chaudhry said.
The body is washed in a special ritual, wrapped in a white shroud, and quickly buried in a simple wooden coffin, with the person's face looking toward the Islamic holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The several thousand plots reserved for Muslims on Long Island are gone. Many are facing the difficult choice of burying their loved ones in New Jersey, which has two all-Muslim cemeteries.
"We should not be going to New Jersey and unable to celebrate death," Chaudhry said.
"You have people calling and they are desperate. The costs have gone up dramatically," said Ammad Sheikh, a Muslim community leader in Plainview.
Sheikh says Long Island is home to 100,000 Muslims and growing.
"The graveyard filled up more than anyone anticipated," Sheikh said.
Twenty acres are needed for a standalone Muslim cemetery.
"This is something that needs to be respected as a priority," Chaudhry said.
Issues of the living are affecting traditions of the dying.
Muslim leaders have additional meetings planned with Suffolk County officials, and are proposing a cemetery in Brookhaven or Riverhead.