P.E.I.'s Muslim community one step closer to having their own burial grounds
The Muslim Society of PEI are almost finished construction on a cemetery in Green Meadows
After a long search, P.E.I.'s Muslim community will finally have an official cemetery on the Island.
The plot in Green Meadows, P.E.I., is roughly the size of a football field and will be the province's first Muslim cemetery.
The community has had the lot since the late 1990s but were trying locate something closer to Charlottetown.
"Churches, normally they would have their cemetery right beside their churches. So we were thinking of doing something like that," said Harim Kamari a member of the funeral services committee for the Muslim Society of P.E.I.
They don't want to go anywhere else other than the Island ...—Harim Kamari
Although, he said that search has been unsuccessful and the community is ready for Green Meadows to be developed.
"They were just pushing it to get it done after 15 years. They want it to be done as soon as possible," he said.
Cemetery a 'special place' for Muslim community
Until now, members of the community have had to be buried in other cemeteries on the Island or they've had to travel to the next closest Muslim burial grounds in Truro, N.S.
"It is important because in the Islamic context, we want to have a special place, a resting place, among the Muslim community instead of sharing with other religions," Kamari said.
"They don't want to go anywhere else other than the Island so they are committed to do whatever it needs to take to have it here."
Funeral services currently cost 'way too much'
The project is costing around $10,000 to have the land cleared and seeded, and will have room for hundreds of graves.
It's an investment Kamari said will save Island Muslims thousands when it comes to funeral costs because the society is considering providing the plots for free.
"The funeral services at present cost way too much for us," he said.
"We are trying to cut the costs down by having our own."
Construction to clear the plot is expected to finish by the end of the week, after that they'll be seeding the lot.
The cemetery is expected to be completed in the spring and the community will finally have a resting place of their own.
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