Grief as a Sacred Opening – Zeyneb Sayilgan

2025-05-08

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Episode 97. Burying a child is an unimaginable trauma that no parent should have to face. My guest today, Zeyneb Sayilgan, has sadly needed to endure that pain and grief twice. Through it all, her Muslim faith has sustained her and provided a path for healing. She has joined me to talk about her experience of loss and subsequent growth, as well as the related Islamic beliefs about death and the afterlife. We also touch on where the beliefs are similar to those in Judaism. Zeyneb brings both personal experience and knowledge to this complex ...

Episode 97.

Burying a child is an unimaginable trauma that no parent should have to face. My guest today, Zeyneb Sayilgan, has sadly needed to endure that pain and grief twice. Through it all, her Muslim faith has sustained her and provided a path for healing. She has joined me to talk about her experience of loss and subsequent growth, as well as the related Islamic beliefs about death and the afterlife. We also touch on where the beliefs are similar to those in Judaism. Zeyneb brings both personal experience and knowledge to this complex topic.

Highlights:

Zeyneb’s personal religious and cultural background
Engagement with death in the Muslim community
Comparison of death practices and attitudes in different countries
Parallels and differences with Jewish and Christian practices
Detailed overview of Islamic funeral practices
Community healing through grief
Life's value: time and eternity

Bio:

Zeyneb Sayilgan, Ph.D., is the Muslim Scholar at ICJS, The Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, where her research focuses on Islamic theology and spirituality as articulated in the writings of Muslim scholar Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (1876-1960). She is the host of the Podcast On Being Muslim. You can read her publications on her blog.

References:

https://religionnews.com/2024/05/15/what-the-dead-teach-us-about-life-a-view-from-islams-last-rites/
https://uscatholic.org/articles/202410/what-catholics-can-learn-from-muhammad-about-grief/
https://muslimmatters.org/2024/12/13/death-the-greatest-teacher/

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