Abstract
Funeral rites refer to beliefs, rules and practices involving the handling of the dead body, burial, post-burial rituals and beliefs in the spirits. The Muslim community in the Pitas district of Sabah, which consists of various tribes, also has its distinctive funeral rites. The objective of the study is to conduct an observation on their funeral rites that are affected by animism. The method used to get the data was interview, which involved informants among the community leaders. This study has found that some funeral rites have been influenced by animism. Hence, this issue should be taken into account, especially for Muslim preachers and authorities such as JHEINS.