Our Beloved Master - His Early Life — Page 151
•oUR BELoVED MASTER• 151 would create havoc and it would be heard all over the neighbourhood. During the wailing, they would slap their own faces and would rip their shirts open. Women that were closely related would also shave their heads. When the funeral procession would be taken towards the cemetery, they would hire paid women to do the wailing. All the relatives, men and women, would walk behind the coffin with bare feet. When they returned from the burial, they would gather together with great pomp and would serve food and celebrate. This ritual would be repeated on the third, tenth, twentieth, and fortieth day, of the person’s death. The same would occur after six months and on the first anniversary. If the deceased were a person that was well known and generous, they would tie a live female camel to the grave. This was done by digging a very big hole in which the camel could stand. Then they would stand the camel in the ditch by twisting the camel’s neck to such a degree that it would face towards the camel’s tail and they would tie all four legs to the neck with ropes. Then leaving the camel in this torturous position they go home. They would not give the camel anything to eat or drink and often the poor camel would die in that position.