This simple message of respect for the dead has been forgotten in some Muslim quarters in the case of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel "Arik" Sharon, who died last Saturday after falling into a stroke-induced coma in 2006.
At the same time, outside the vast shambles of contemporary Islam, many are not merely standing for, but prostrating to Sharon and his legacy.
What follows is an attempt to find a space somewhere in the middle.
Sharon's family were of Georgian heritage, though he was born in Palestine in 1928. His parents were farmers who had emigrated eight years earlier. His military career began at 14, when he joined the Haganah underground militia in British-mandated Palestine.
Palestinian venom for Sharon is understandable. The man spent much of his public life plotting against the indigenous Christians and Muslims of Palestine. His targets were not only leaders he labelled as "terrorists" in much the same manner as the African National Congress was labelled by Israel's allies in the apartheid South African regime.
In 1953, Sharon led an army commando, "Unit 101", that made a vicious attack on the village of Qibya in the West Bank. About 40 homes were flattened, and more than 60 civilians killed.
In his autobiography, Warrior, Sharon makes a fleeting reference to the "tragedy" of civilian deaths at Qibya, most of whom were women and children. But more important was "what this means to army morale".
Sharon built a political career out of his military theatrics in the 1967 and 1973 wars. In 1981, a government led by former Stern Gang terrorist Menachem Begin was elected. Begin appointed Sharon as his defence minister.
In the following year, after an attempt on the life of the Israeli ambassador to the UN by a fringe anti-PLO Palestinian group, Sharon launched a full-scale war on Lebanon called "Operation Peace for Galilee". Soon, Israeli tanks were pounding Beirut. After PLO forces agreed to vacate the city, Israelis allowed their Lebanese Falange allies to enter the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila and massacre up to 1500 civilians. Israeli officers under Sharon's direction were at a nearby checkpoint.
After this incident, Sharon became known as the Butcher of Beirut. In February 2003, the report of an Israeli government inquiry found Ariel Sharon principally responsible for the operation. Prime Minister Begin reluctantly made Sharon resign as defence minister, but kept him in the ministry.
As a champion of Jewish settlements, he opposed the September 1993 Oslo Accords. He was out of step with public opinion inside Israel, unpopular at home and abroad. The Israeli Haaretz newspaper describes this period:
"... Sharon had been considered a leper in the international community and among a wide swathe of Israelis, was seen as wearing around his neck the albatross of the Israeli sins committed during the First Lebanon War, following his humiliating removal as defence minister by the government's Kahan Commission ... After his ouster from office, Sharon remained an outcast in the political arena, carrying the image of an extreme right-winger, almost demonic in nature."
The Haaretz obituary also describes Sharon's personal life in some detail. Whatever his many faults, he was clearly capable of showing compassion to those close to him.
Toward the end of his life, Ariel Sharon left his militant roots and formed the centrist Kadima Party which was more committed to peace with Palestinians. By 2006, Sharon was at the height of his political career and had been elected Prime Minister. Had he not been felled by the stroke, perhaps he might have ended up shaking hands with a Palestinian leader on the White House lawn and winning a Nobel Peace Prize.
But right now, Sharon is another humbled soul in the process of meeting his maker.
• Irfan Yusuf is an award-winning Australian writer
