General Questions

Gardens of Peace is a charity that owns freehold land for use as a muslim cemetery; its constitution forbids the use of the land for any purpose other than as a cemetery. So the concept of leases, as in other multi-denominational and council run cemeteries, does not apply.

If the concern is how long will it be before the grave is recycled, then please rest assured that this will not occur at least for a generation. This is consistent with both the law and shariah.

Attending a Muslim Funeral – A Guide for Non‐Muslims

Download Attending a Muslim Funeral – A Guide for Non‐Muslims
(Right-click and Save)

  • There are no extra fees for weekend or bank holiday burials. However, there may be additional charges for late burials.

In accordance with shariah burial at the Cemetery is conducted in shrouds.

The only occasions on which this is varied is when medical advice or directions from the coroner are received for burial to take place in a coffin.

As you can see there are already so many benches at the cemetery that there is little point in having more at this stage.

If you would like to donate on behalf of a loved one, then please consider sponsoring the planting of a tree or a shrub, further details of which are set out on the Donations page.

The latest time for burial at the cemetery is 4.00pm.

We do not encourage the placing of flowers on graves. This adds to the cost burden of maintaining the Cemetery as the flowers will have to be removed after a few days when they have wilted.

Why not instead sponsor a tree at the cemetery for the benefit of the deceased, or offer a donation either to the Cemetery or to some other worthwhile charitable cause? Such an act by you will be a source of recurring reward for the deceased.

Notwithstanding, we recognise some visitors will still want to leave flowers on graves. Under no circumstances however will plastic flowers be permitted.

The burning of incense is also not permitted at the cemetery as there is no basis in the hadith for this practice.

DISPOSAL OF QURANIC MATERIALS

As a cemetery, our primary operation is burials.  Over the years we have provided a disposal service for old and torn Quranic materials that can no longer be of benefit.

This service has been abused with Quranic materials being dumped all over the cemetery including the stream.  As a result we have incurred significant costs in cleaning up.

Due to this abuse, we will only accept Quranic materials at our Elmbridge Road site only during the following times and in line with the policy set out below.

We will each year accept Quranic materials for disposal during:

  • Easter Weekend – Good Friday to Easter Monday
  • May Bank holiday
  • Spring Bank holiday
  • Late August Bank holiday weekend (Sat to Mon)

Items we accept

  • Only PAPER items with Quranic verses
  • Old and torn Qurans/religious books

Items we DO NOT accept

  • New Qurans or books that can be of benefit
  • Frames
  • Canvasses
  • CD’s/Cassettes
  • Any plastic/wooden/ceramic items
  • Prayer mats/clothes
  • School textbooks

For bulk (more than 1 kilo) disposal of Quranic materials there will be a compulsory charge of £5 per kilo to cover our costs

Please respect the above policy and do not bring materials for disposal outside of the above dates.

Additional FAQs

This takes approximately 6-9 months from the date of the burial.

We used to be able to clean and re-ink the white marble gravestones, but this is no longer possible. We are recommending that all white marble stones be replaced with the more durable green granite gravestones with silver lettering.

Details can be found under ‘Other Services’ on the Grave Marker Re-Inking page.