ST. LOUIS (AP) - Plans are in the works for what may be Missouri's first Muslim funeral home.
Adil Imdad graduated last spring with a certificate of specialization in funeral directing and takes a state licensing exam next month. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/JoyAZ8 ) reports he is raising money for a Muslim funeral home in the St. Louis area.
Muslim communities in Kansas City, Columbia and Jefferson City have small funeral facilities for washing bodies of the deceased, often inside mosques. But Muslims in Missouri bury their loved ones in Muslim sections of Christian cemeteries.
The need for Muslim-specific services like funeral homes has grown with the Muslim population. A 2011 survey showed the number of mosques in the U.S. has grown 74 percent since 2000.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com