| Summary: | The city of Yogyakarta is developing rapidly and producing different kind of
social reality and community. Simulataneously, the city is also revealing differrent
kind of death. The existence of the funeral institution in this city has become one
important sign of social transformation. This research examines the existence of
funeral institution Yayasan Bunga Selasih (YBS) in Yogyakarta. This institution has
an office building and professional staffs assigned to routine tasks of treating the
deceased from Muslim religion background in Yogyakarta. The institution is also
offerring complete ceremonial burial services from treating the deceased, part away
burial ceremony including documentation, consumption, and transportation for the
deceased. The services also offers various important equipments for burial ceremony.
YBS on daily basis performs one to eight funeral services. That high rate of service
indicates the importance of this intitution in the city.
This research will try to answer important question of why YBS is rising in the
city of Yogyakarta and how far its roles in managing funenal in Islamic society in
urban area. To answer this question, there are there issues which will be discussed:
the deceased treatment, institutional ekonomy, and social solidarity of Islamic people
in the city. From teological aspect, YBS is developing burial services according to
Islamic religious teaching from strong emphasis on sex separation between male and
female services to using camphor, sandalwood powder, white cotton sheet.
From economical aspect, YBS has become funeral home or Islamic burial
service in Yogyakarta. Deceased treatment which had communal basis has become a
treatment that is based on professional service performed by professional skilledlabor
in treating the deceased. YBS has removed the differences between professional
service and the deceased-treatment and burial service.
Social solidarity aspect of YBS existence reveals a society considering death as
technical matter and no longer social solidarity issue. The death is prepared well,
particularly in deceased-treatment, by becoming YBS member or buy funeral service
from YBS office directly. Funeral ceremony procession previously involved many
roles from community. Now the professional funeral service has excluded the
community in the crowd and density of city. City life and reigning of economic
interest have slowly erasing cultural memory about social meaning of burial
ceremony.
In analizing the existence of YBS and particularly funeral services, the purpose
of this research is to understand the meaning of death and to know deeper about
social-religious transformation in the city of Yogyakarta.
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