Is there a historical reason why Judaism and Islam require fairly quick burials while in Christianity it can be longer? And has it always been this way?

by ContinuumGuy

I'm not really sure if this is "history", but I figure the answer probably lies in history, so

I was reading about how William Shatner won't be able to make it to Leonard Nimoy's funeral, which is this Sunday. Nimoy was Jewish, and Judaism generally encourages having a funeral not long after death (for example, Nimoy will be buried only two days after his passing). I know that Islam has similar customs.

I'm wondering... why do Jews and Muslims customarily have funerals not long after death, while in Christianity the funeral can take place after a longer span of time? And has it always been this way?

(My THEORY, tell me if I'm wrong or not, is that it has something to do with the fact that Christianity, unlike Judaism and Islam, became the dominant religion of Europe, and so some sort of European attitude or whatever caused it to not as strict about burial time as the other two)

farquier

Part of it's probably because Judaism and Islam unlike Christianity ban embalming and cremation(autopsies are also not normally performed unless medically or legally mandated); especially in warmer climes this essentially requires the burial to be within a day or two before things become extremely unpleasant.