TOBA TEK SINGH: The management of a newly-constructed mosque in Gojra, “Jamia Masjid Qadria,” at Hasnia Colony, has demarcated the mosque into two parts, the prayer hall and compound.

The other portion consists of a few rooms where all citizens have been allowed to give a final bath to the bodies of their deceased relatives, with special facilities, such as the availability of water, a bathing table with shoulders (to prevent them from getting wet from drops of used water when giving a bath to a body).

Shrouds (kafan) have also been kept in stock, which can be used by families of deceased people free of cost. A cold room has been arranged along with a freezer, capable of accommodating up to five bodies simultaneously. People of any sect or school of thought are allowed to lead and offer funeral prayers according to their beliefs.

Zahid Rauf Kamboh, a social worker, told Dawn it was a long-standing demand of the locals to have a special place next to Gojra’s largest “Kobootranwala graveyard” to keep bodies in it during the summer. However, this cold room could not be arranged due to a lack of required funds.

He said by providing this facility, the management of the mosque has resolved the problem for citizens who are forced to keep a body for a certain time in the summer. Previously, the only available facility to keep a body at a cool temperature was in the cold storage in Faisalabad.

Ali Akbar, a member of the mosque’s administration committee, said the mosque had the capacity to accommodate 1,000 people at a time. He suggested that people should offer funeral prayers in the designated portion of the mosque, which is solely allocated for funeral prayers, where participants in regular prayers can also join.

He said the funeral portion was adjacent to the mosque but also has a separate entrance that opens in Sharifpura locality at the backside of the mosque.

He claimed that all the money spent on the construction of the mosque and the provision of funeral facilities had been self-generated by the local community.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2024