A Waterloo woman was denied permission to use an upright headstone at her mother’s grave.
Naila Javed spoke at Waterloo council Monday night, asking for a change to a bylaw that doesn’t allow for that type of grave maker in the Muslim section of Parkview Cemetery.
She bought an upright headstone after her mother died but hasn’t been allowed to use it.
In the 1980's Waterloo council consulted with the local Muslim community, who advised them that flat gravestones are in keeping with the Islamic faith.
Council voted Monday night to keep the bylaw in place for the current section of the cemetery, but will make changes to future plots.
In a planned 2017 expansion of Parkview Cemetery, 212 new plots will be designated for people of the Muslim faith.
Some of those plots will be allowed to use upright headstones.
With reporting by Victoria Levy
