The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (817 page)

. Sikhs are to accept death as God's will and as a stage in the progress to him. Elaborate displays of mourning or of grief are therefore discouraged.
Chinese
Most dead exist in perpetuity in the rituals of the living family. Usually the dead gain immortality of memory in the family unit, periodic offerings, and possible assistance of the ‘soul’ (in Buddhist judgement); the family gains kinship cohesion by filial respect and blessings by the rites. Traditionally, the dead are buried with
ming chi
(spirit articles), a sustenance of some kind such as the urns and human sacrifices of the archaeological sites, or the burning of modern paper items of money and necessities. Thereafter, they are periodically offered incense and food in the family or hall shrines. The grave is carefully chosen according to the
yin and yang
‘geomantic’ influences of
feng shui
, and the body is often buried in a coffin, later disinterred, the bones put in a pot in the open air, and finally buried in the pot. These rites and relationships vary considerably by location and historical period.

 
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(Arab., pl. of
faqih
), jurists possessing deep knowledge of
fiqh
, such as the
ayatollahs
and ‘ulam
of the Muslim world.

 
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Furq
n
.

Generally translated as ‘criterion’ or ‘distinction’, sometimes ‘deliverance’; an Arabic word of disputed origin. It is the name of
s
ra
25 of the
Qur’
n
, where it is a synonym for the Qur’
n itself. Elsewhere it would seem to signify ‘deliverance’, as in the case of
Moses
(Qur’
n 2. 53, 21. 48). The battle of
Badr
, the first significant victory for the Muslims, is described as a ‘day of furq
n’ (8. 41).

 
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