In 1996 several Muslims in the Stafford community realized the need for a Muslim cemetery. The only options available to Muslims was either to send their deceased family member back home, which was prohibitively expensive, or bury their family member in a non-Muslim cemetery.
Initially, 7.5 acres of land was purchased and this cemetery became the first Muslim cemetery to offer free land for any Muslim burial. With the successful purchase of the additional 80 acres, it has become America’s largest Muslim cemetery. The entire purchase cost $540,000 dollars, which required a small loan. Therefore, although the property has been purchased, donations are still necessary for paying off the loan and the maintenance of the land itself.
Both Brother Osman and Brother Mossadaq believe this amount of land will serve the Muslim community in the area for the next two generations, 60 to 70 years. When asked how this 87.5 acres could serve a Muslim community estimated at 350,000 in the tri-state area, Brother Osman stated, “Some Muslims still prefer to send their family members back home to be buried. There are other Muslims who want to be able to bury their families together. Since this cemetery offers free land for burials, it is first-come-first-serve and we do not allot the land ahead of time. Therefore, some families prefer to buy family plots from non-Muslim cemeteries. Then there are situations where children are really not practicing anymore and when their parents die, they don’t know how to bury them Islamically. When a spouse of a deceased Muslim is not Muslim, they also sometimes don’t bother burying the Muslim spouse in a Muslim cemetery. Just recently, there was a Muslim man who died here and he had no family. The government was going to cremate him. A Muslim brother heard about it, and some brothers got together and gave donations and we were able to bury him Islamically in the cemetery.”
Brother Mossadaq stated that in the future portions of the land might be used for other projects.
“In the future if we find we need an Islamic center or Islamic school, we can use this land. What was important was to get hold of it now.” Brother Osman stated, “Muslim communities in Gaithersburg, Frederick and Hagerstown are also trying to purchase land for Muslim cemeteries. The idea is growing and getting established.” [Editor’s note: A new Muslim cemetery, “Al-Firdaus Memorial Gardens” opened in Frederick, Maryland earlier this month. See Muslim Link issue, October 31, 2008]
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