Terrorist Omar Mateen, 29, received a traditional Islamic burial this week in a Sunni Muslim cemetery located more than three hours south of Pulse, the gay Orlando nightclub where he took the lives of 49 innocent people.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Mateen’s body was prepared for burial by the Riyadh Ul Jannah Funeral Home, which lists itself as “a Muslim funeral home for the sole use of Sunni Muslims” on its website. His death certificate was issued on Wednesday afternoon.
Mateen’s body was buried in the Muslim Cemetery of South Florida in Hialeah Gardens, which furnishes the same address. Riyadh Ul Jannah is part of a non-profit foundation called the Bism Rabbik Foundation Inc.
Local outlet WPTV also broke the news that Mateen was given a traditional Islamic burial within the last 48 hours in the state of Florida, although there were no other details regarding his remains.
Mateen’s death certificate notes that his father Seddique Mateen or Mir Seddique, picked his son’s body up from the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office (OCMEO). Carrie Proudfit, a public information officer for Orange County told the Sentinel that a body must be released to family members who then make specific arrangements.
Under Islamic law, cremation and embalming are forbidden.
Both the OCMEO and the FBI declined to release the information that was discovered on Mateen’s death certificate and cited that the investigation was “ongoing.”
The Treasure Coast Palm reports that Seddique would not confirm at his home on Wednesday any information about his son’s burial. However, he provided the phone number for his attorney — Wilfredo Ruiz, communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
When Ruiz was contacted by the publication, he reportedly said CAIR was not representing the Mateen family and was instead acting as a spokesperson for the Islamic Center of Fort Piece, the mosque Mateen attended.
CAIR, declared a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas-funding operation by federal prosecutors, is known for helping the families of terrorists. Last year, the group ensured Islamic burials for the San Bernardino terrorists, Syed Rizwan Farook and his accomplice wife Tashfeen Malik. CAIR also arranged help for the family to fight for custody of the terrorist couple’s baby.
Daniel Akbari, a certified Sharia lawyer and expert on Islam for the Supreme Court of Iran had predicted, during an interview with Fox News, that Farook and Malik would eventually receive a religious burial in the end, suggesting that it will take some time before someone stepped forward but noting that “since it is obligatory to bury a Muslim’s dead body, many Islamic institutions will probably be willing to do the burial.”
It took a far shorter time for Mateen’s body to be retrieved.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz.
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