After death of 18-year-old Niagara woman, her family told Thorold cemetery won’t accommodate Muslim burial

The family of a young Niagara woman who died in a car accident has been told she won’t be buried in their local cemetery because it won’t accommodate Muslim burial traditions, their imam says.

Alina Masud, an 18-year-old student at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., died in a collision on Highway 406 on the evening of Dec. 3.

Imam Asad Mahmood said after she died, he approached the director of Lakeview Cemetery in Thorold, Ont., who told him they could proceed with the burial. The family was requesting for it to take place in a section within the cemetery dedicated for Muslims. But Mahmood said the director called an hour before the burial on Saturday to advise him Thorold councillors had denied the request.

“We wanted to bury her in the local cemetery,” Mahmood told CBC News. He has been working closely with the family. “We have been asking the City of Thorold to give us a section within the cemetery since 2023.”

The Lakeview Cemetery, established in 1886, is run and operated by the City of Thorold.

Mahmood said there is “a section for Roman Catholics in the cemetery. We want our section where the entire row is facing Mecca.”

It is Muslim tradition that the body is laid on its right side facing the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca— Islam’s holiest city — the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad.

Mahmood and other local supporters, including the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association, are holding a vigil outside Thorold’s City Hall on Tuesday evening “to demand Muslim burial rights” at the cemetery. The vigil starts at 5 p.m.

“Everyone should have the right to be buried at a public cemetery,” said Mahmood, who is the founder of Mosque Aisha with locations in Thorold and Niagara Falls.

City passed motion in 2023 to restrict grave sales

In an email to CBC News, a City of Thorold spokesperson said the city extended condolences to the family as well as loved ones and friends.

According to the city, in July 2023, council passed a motion to restrict grave sales to specific areas until existing sections are sold out.

The city said its approach helps manage cemetery capacity and ensures fair access for all residents.

It said because of the language used in its bylaw, it was unable to “accommodate the family’s preferences.”

“Staff informed the family and provided an alternative which the family declined. We sincerely apologize for the added burden this situation has caused during an already difficult time.”

The City of Thorold passed a motion in 2023 restricting grave sales to specific areas until existing sections are sold out. (Diona Macalinga/CBC)

A need to better consider loved ones of the Muslim community: MPP

Mahmood said he rejects the city’s position that giving a section of the cemetery to the Muslim community would be segregating the community burial ground.

“I told them you’re not segregating the cemetery, you are facilitating a community whose belief is completely different,” he said.

“We pray the different way — we face towards Mecca. We bury the people in a different way. So, whenever we bring the body, we will be paying your employees, they will be digging, entering from the same door, they will be the one cleaning the snow, plowing the snow, cutting the grass, so how will this be a segregation with the cemetery?”

The Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association said in a statement addressed to city council dated Dec. 9 that it is “a violation of human rights” not to allow a Muslim section.

“[The bylaw amendment] was done in the name of preventing segregation, when in fact it makes it impossible for Muslims to practice their religion in being buried and so segregates them out of your cemetery,” reads the statement.

Jeff Burch, MPP for Niagara Centre, said in a statement he hopes council can work with the Muslim community so that families like Masud’s can be “shown respect.”

“While I understand the City of Thorold has requirements in place for burial arrangements, this tragedy has demonstrated the need to better consider loved ones of the Muslim community. Currently, in Thorold, Muslims must seek burial sites outside their own community, which is very upsetting.”

‘This is a basic right’ of humans anywhere, says imam

For Mahmood, this fight has been ongoing for more than two years.

When he first made his request in 2023 for a section of the cemetery, he said the city first agreed and collected a deposit of $50,000, but returned the money after a year “saying that they did not want to segregate their cemetery.”

As a result, they had to contact Niagara Falls, transport bodies for burial there, and “ask them to come out and dig the grave because one way or the other we have to bury the body,” he said.

Mahmood said the Niagara Falls cemetery didn’t have an issue.

“As soon we approach them, they said ‘yes, come take whatever you want and this will be dedicated to your community.’ So, this is the similar thing we’re asking the City of Thorold to have it so this way [we] can be buried next to our loved ones and our community members,” he said.

“This is a basic right of a local human in anywhere in the world. Like, when we die, we should have a designated spot where we can take our loved ones and be buried in that area, like in Hamilton, Toronto or Mississauga.”