Plans to provide a burial of religiously sensitive material have been announced by the IMWS in response to a need that members have raised.

The matter has been under discussion for a while and following direction from scholars the first burial is due to take place soon.

Abdul Aziz Daji, who is leading on the project on behalf of the Society, said, “In response to requests from members we are pleased to announce that IMWS will be providing a facility for members to dispose of religious materials in accordance with Islamic requirements.”

Mufti Zakaria Akudi earlier explained that, “Copies of the Quraan that are old and in a state where recitation is hard from them should be buried.” Whilst “the ruling regarding newspapers, pamphlets etc. that contain the name of the Almighty or verses of the Quraan is that they should be wrapped up in a cloth and should be buried inside a ground upon which people rarely walk.”

Previously the local council had been providing a facility to bury religiously sensitive material but as this could not be controlled and led to a high volume of books and magazines being dumped, that has ceased.

A point to remember is that entire magazines or pamphlets do not need to be buried. Only the section or part that has the Quraan (or an ayat of) or the name of the Almighty needs to be buried. Members are urged to cut out the relevant part which will allow more to be buried.

As well as burial another method includes recycling the paper following particular guidelines.

Mufti Zakaria Sahib added, “If the name of the Almighty or the verses of the Quraan are erased or written over with a pen in such a way that they are no longer visible, then it will be permissible to put them into the paper recycle bin or use them for some other purpose.

“Another way is to use a shredder that cross shreds in a way that separates the letters totally. And can then be recycled as the letters are separated.

“Regarding images of the Ka’bah, masjids etc. they can also be put through a cross shredder and recycled.”

Old and worn religious materials can be a problem to bury, but with the chance to recycle via the above methods a little care might clear many of the piled up religious materials around the home.

The date and times of burial of religious sensitive materials with details of what will be taken will be announced via the affiliated masjids and will incur a charge.

Abdul Aziz added, “We will place notices in our seven affiliated Masajids to inform members when to bring these materials to the Al-Hikmah Centre and we will then bury these materials.

“As this facility will incur costs IMWS will be charging £1.50 per kilo. Please ensure you only bring Ayats from the Quran.”

The Al-Hikmah Centre will not be taking any materials until the official announcements are made via the affiliated masajids.