Reader Questions: Mourning and Funerals

This morning I received this question.  I have not yet experienced an Islamic Funeral Service, so I open this question to you.

 I am a preschool teacher in the Midwest.  I have been a Lutheran all my life, and almost all of my friends are either Christian or Jewish.  Many of the students in my preschool come from Somalia, so I do what I can in my free time to learn more about Somalia specifically, and Islam in general.  That’s what brought me to your blog.

Our community was deeply saddened yesterday when the local elementary school’s field trip lead to a freak accident, resulting in the deaths of two students.  The names of the students were released today by their families, and they were both Muslims.  A memorial has been growing outside the school with flowers, stuffed animals and balloons.

I was wondering if there is anything special in how Muslims traditionally mourn.  I remember when Paul Wellstone died, I learned that for Jews it’s somewhat insulting to bring flowers to a memorial, instead they prefer donations for food shelves.