The Death of the Others: A Comparative Analysis of the Management of Islamic and Jewish Funeral Spaces in the Community of Madrid

Abstract

The funeral issue can be understood as a total social fact involving historical, social, political, symbolic, legal, or economic matters. This study conducts a comparative analysis of the demands and needs regarding funeral matters of the Jewish and Muslim communities in the territory of the Autonomous Community of Madrid as a case study. Both religions share a history of uprooting and persecution in Spanish society, which has been essentially Catholic for centuries, as well as a process of recovery and re-legitimization in contemporary times. In the current postsecular context, laws recognize both communities' right to practice thir respective funeral rites, which have elements that are discordant with the majority social practice, and to have their own cemeteries of those enabled by public administrations. However, Jews and Muslims experience differential access to this right in the Community of Madrid. The objective of this work is to address the reasons for this difference, which are related to the recent history of both communities, their processes of institutionalization, their sociodemographic characteristics, and the symbolic problems that their presence raises.