The afterlife of death: understanding death practices

Abstract

Death imprints itself in the heart and mind like ink on paper, scars on skin. There it remains. There it lives on. In my time, I have seen my fair share of death (Shukri 2021: 134). Finally, one night I go in search of my father, and he tells me it is normal and says he wishes he believed in God because that might help, but he doesn’t so I’m going to have to stare it [death] in the face. He assures me it will be a long time before I need to worry about death. I don’t believe him, but I carry on regardless. Accepting that I will die – even if I hate it – is the first heartbreak I have encountered about which nothing can be done. Death is an immovable, unbreakable truth (Msimang 2021: 211).

The above quotes capture aspects of death – the ‘finality’ and complexity, and ultimately, the inevitability thereof. Death is a fate of all living species - including human beings. The mystery of the journey that awaits the deceased could cause great discomfort to those who still form part of the survivors. The mysteries of death evoke questions that do not necessarily have answers. Therefore, human beings need to rely on beliefs and science to make sense of these unanswered questions to be able to manoeuvre through this destructive conundrum. These questions are many and include issues such as the ‘right’ time for a person to die; who determines this timing; who chooses the manner in which life gets lost and on what basis; can one pass away prematurely and if yes, what could the cause of a premature death be; is the deciding entity/ies that cruel to take people of all ages and some in the most gruesome and devastating way? The questions extend even further: does the deciding entity/ies think of the people the deceased leaves behind; what happens in the afterlife; and do the deceased still have human characteristics such as emotions even though they have moved on to an unknown and unfamiliar world? These questions were expressed frequently during the course of my extensive fieldwork as melancholy, pain, and tears which visited the eyes of informants who tried to make sense of this inevitability. Therefore, Msimang (2021) and Shukri’s (2021) sentiments of fear, indefiniteness, and helplessness caused by death are echoed in this research.