Wife Cremated Husband Despite…

Coffin of Abdoulaye Badji
Coffin of the late Abdoulaye Badji

A British woman has cremated the lifeless body of her Senegalese husband, which according to our sources, is against the wishes of the husband’s family.

Abdoulaye Badji died in Oxford in the United Kingdom on November 16th, 2014. His death followed a fundraising drive to pay for his remains to be airlifted to Senegal for burial. Senegalese mission in London also threw its weight in this campaign by willing to pay half of the cost. Mr. Badji’s extended family members soon started working on raising the remaining funds.

Kairo News has gathered that Mr. Badji’s British wife acted unilaterally by collecting the body from the hospital mortuary for cremation, much to the consternation of the deceased’s family and the Senegalese embassy.

Abdoulaye Badji was the son of a woman who whose ultimate wish was to pay her last respect to her lone child. “It was her wish to have her son ferried home and have a proper Muslim burial,” a family source told Kairo News.

It was also reported that the late Abdoulaye’s wife used her next of kin powers to cremate the body. In fact, the couple was separated before Badji passed away, one source alleged. Frantic efforts were made by both the family and Senegalese embassy to contact the woman before the cremation to no avail.

The late Badji’s family, especially his mother, is believed to be in great shock.

Senegalese officials are said to be exploring diplomatic routes so as to understand the reasoning of the woman.

The reasons for the cremation are still unclear but it has created room for those married to Western woman to declare in their will, spelling out how their remains should be handled after death. Cremation, a common ritual in the West and elsewhere, is unacceptable in both the African and Islamic cultures.

Another area of concern is that most of our brothers married to Western women refuse to have close ties with their relatives, which makes it impossible for their whereabouts to be known in case of death. As a matter of fact, you hear some of our brothers and sisters openly boasting “I don’t need anybody.” These brand of people often accuse “Gambians of talking too much or poking their nose into issues that do not concern them.”

However, the fundamental issue that must be borne in mind is whether anyone is an island of his or her own.

While we pray for the soul of Abdoulaye Badji to enjoy eternal bliss, we encourage people to donate generously to the family organize pray sessions for the departed soul.

Ends

9 Comments

  1. Luntango Suun Gann Gi

    He who chooses to eat pork …

  2. very sad. shocking.

  3. Terrible and sad. UnAfrican. This toubabs!

  4. Scarlet Pimpernel

    Crazy. ..,just crazy. May his soul rest in peace.

  5. Once the life-force and the consciousness leaves the body, it is no more than a heap of garbage, food waste! What you do with it does not make any difference whatsoever. I would suggest the money being raised is used to help living people, especially the children, perhaps use it to fund their education. This would be of more significance in the eyes of God than any supplication of a dead body! This identification with the body-mind as something sacred is the root cause of all conflict. Ending this identification with the body and becoming aware of your indwelling spirit, your Beingness, is the only way to the unknown, God’s kingdom. British law accords the next of kin, powers to decide upon the manner in which the body of a loved one is to disposed. And who says this may not have been his wish anyway!

  6. In reply to the Witness, this is a sad. To assert that what happen to the body after death doesn’t matter is rather ignorant. If you don’t know, ask questions and don’t just post anything that does not add value.

  7. Concerned Citizen

    we pray for the departed soul. Marrying a toubab doesn’t mean to distance yourself from relatives.

  8. Kitabu, it is because I do not know that am free. The known is not truth. It is an illusion. What you think you are is nothing but a bunch of concepts. This ‘I’ or ‘me’ you hanker after is your enemy. It is the very obstacle to the realisation of the bliss of God. Drop this illusion, and you will be free. My question is ‘who are you?’ beyond your name and story. Is that eternal? Your idea of who you are is not rooted in truth but hearsay. Enquire into who you really are, and when you find out who this’I’ is, then you will come to understand the source from where my comments emanated. You will come to discover that you have been a slave to your mind. Ignorance is bliss and peace…are you insinuating than you are more godly than a new-born child because you know! If this is your reasoning, then be aware that knowledge is limited. The unknown, the God principle, is beyond knowledge and indescribable. If you have been kissed by the grace of God, you will give up any knowledge! This is the Absolute truth and it is timeless!

  9. Kitabu, am sure by now you would have pondered upon these words. You said ‘if you don’t know, ask questions’. Tell me, if you believe in god, does he have questions? After all, the god principle is supposed to be all knowing and all pervading, so how can it have questions? You believe you are a body and that you have autonomy, yet you cannot stop God from switching off the light and ‘kaput’ you are gone. You live life as if you have control over what happens and you hanker and struggle after material acquisitions. Tell me, ‘did you have a choice in your so called birth?’ ‘when did you become aware of yourself as ‘kitabu’? ‘were you kitabu in the womb?’ Tell me ‘who you are?’ Tell me where did the arrogance come from to say ‘i do not know?’ I know what you do and I know who you are, for ‘I am’ you. You do not have peace because you believe you are a body. ‘I am’ and beyond ‘I am’ does not care about who you think you are and your petty story about life. ‘Life is’!!! It is not yours or mine. Whatever needs to happen will happen whether ‘who you think you are’ likes it or not!!!! ‘I am the Absolute and I reside within you!!! Know this and you will be happy!!! Wasalaam