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"Burial is the practice on which the Abrahamic traditions agree most closely and for reasons that are not identical." Burial is formally linked to three religions in this atlas, the Baha'i Faith, Islam and Judaism, all three links carrying no further comment at the religion level. Read against this page's own description, this is a partial differentiation.

Judaism, at Length and by Denomination

"Jewish law requires prompt burial, usually within a day, on the strength of a verse forbidding a body to be left overnight; the body is washed by a burial society, wrapped in plain linen identical for rich and poor, and placed in the ground without embalming." Eleven Jewish denominations carry their own further position on this page besides, from Orthodox and Haredi Judaism's "in the earth, without embalming, ordinarily within a day" to Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism's explicit departure, "cremation is permitted, which the halakhic bodies forbid."

Islam, Same Day and Facing Mecca

"Muslim practice is likewise same-day where possible: washing, three or five white sheets, a funeral prayer said standing without prostration, and the body laid on its right side facing Mecca, in many places without a coffin at all where the law permits."

A Link With Nothing to Say, and a Tradition With No Link at All

The Baha'i Faith is the third of the three linked religions, and neither its link nor this page's own description carries anything further for it. The description's third paragraph instead describes Orthodox Christianity, "the body is not a container the person has left but a part of the person awaiting resurrection," a tradition with no formal link to Christianity recorded anywhere on this page. Two gaps, reported rather than filled: a linked religion with nothing further said, and a described tradition with no formal link. "The common thread is that the corpse retains standing and cannot simply be disposed of."

Where To Read More

• BurialFunerary RitualsTwo of three counted religions richly differentiated, the third bare, a fourth tradition described with no edge
• JudaismAbrahamic (Monotheistic)Prompt burial, plain linen, no embalming, further split across eleven denomination-level positions
• IslamAbrahamic (Monotheistic)Same-day washing, white sheets, standing prayer, the body facing Mecca
• Bahá’í FaithAbrahamic (Monotheistic)The third counted religion; neither its edge nor its own text carries anything for it