Lesson 66 Funerals

Proper manners concerning funerals: Instructing the deceased to make the Testimony of Faith, direct him towards the Qiblah, close his eyes when he dies, and cover him.

Screaming and wailing are prohibited; patience is to be sought; and silent weeping out of mercy is allowed.

It is obligatory to bathe the dead (not those who die as martyrs) before wrapping them in a clean white shroud; enshrouding in silk is forbidden.

It is a Sunnah to perform funeral prayers before the procession.

Women are not recommended to attend the funeral procession.

Burial of the dead is a communal obligation. It is a condition to deepen the grave, and it is offensive to heighten it, or construct any building over it (mosque or whatever), or to sit on it.

Exhumation is prohibited, the corpse or its remains is only to be moved if necessary.

Evidence from the Qur ’ an and Sunnah

Proper manners concerning funenrals: The Prophet (SAWS) said: “Exhort your dying men to recite: La Ilaha Illallah (There is no deity except Allah).” (Reported by Muslim)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “He whose last words are: La Ilaha Illallah (There is no deity except Allah) will enter Paradise.” (Reported by Abu-Dawud)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “When you visit a sick or a dying person, you should utter good words because the angels say ‘Amen’ at what you say.” (Reported by Muslim)

The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) visited Abu- Salamah (RA) when his eyes were open soon after he died. He closed them (the eyes) for him and said: “When the soul is taken away, the sight follows it.” Some members of his family began to weep. He (peace be upon him) said: “Do not supplicate for yourselves anything but good, for the angels say ‘Amen’ to what you say.” (Reported by Muslim)

Patience and calmness: The Prophet (SAWS) said: “The deceased is tortured in his grave for the bewailing over him.” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “If people wail for anyone, he will be punished for it on the Day of Resurrection.” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim)

Abu-Musa (RA) narrated: “The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) repudiates that woman who wails loudly, shaves her hair, and tears (her garment in grief).” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim)

Usamah Ibn-Zayd narrated that the Prophet’s eyes welled up with tears (SAWS) for the death of his granddaughter Umaymah (the daughter of Zaynab). When asked: What is this, Messenger of Allah?

He replied: “This is compassion which Allah has placed in the hearts of His servants, and God shows compassion only to those of His servants who are compassionate.” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: ““Endurance is to be shown at the first blow (of a calamity).” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “If any Muslim who suffers some calamity says what Allah has commanded him: ‘Truly! To Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return. O Allah, reward me for my affliction and give me something better than it in exchange for it,’ Allah will give him something better than it in exchange.” (Reported by Muslim)

The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said: “Allah, the Exalted, says: I have no reward except Paradise for a believing slave of Mine who shows patience and anticipates My reward when I take away his favorite one from the inhabitants of the world.” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy)

Bathing the dead person: The Prophet (SAWS) said, "Do not wash them (the martyrs) as on the Day of Resurrection, every wound (or every blood) will have the fragrance of musk." (Reported by Ahmad)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “Put on white clothes because they are the best; and use them for shrouding your dead.” (Reported by at-Tirmidhiyy)

The Prophet (SAWS) said, "When you incense the dead with perfume incense him thrice.“ (Reported by Ahmad)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “Bathe him (the dead pilgrim) with water mixed with the leaves of the lote tree and shroud him in his two (pieces of) cloth (Ihram), and do not cover his head for Allah will raise him on the Day of Resurrection pronouncing Talbiyah.” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim)

Following the funerals: The Prophet (SAWS) said, "Visit the sick, and follow the funeral procession, for it will (help) remind you of the Hereafter” (Reported by Ahmad)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “The rights of the Muslim on his brother Muslim are five: …and following his bier (i.e. his funeral).” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “Make haste at a funeral; if the dead person is good, it is a good state to which you are sending him on; but if he is otherwise, it is an evil of which you are ridding yourselves.” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “Whosoever attends the funeral of a Muslim believing and hoping for the reward from Allah and remains with it until the prayer is offered over it and the burial is completed, he will return with a reward of two Qirat; each Qirat is equivalent to mount Uhud; and whosoever offers his prayer over it and returns before its burial, he will come back with one Qirat.” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy)

Umm-`Atiyyah (RA) narrated: “We were forbidden to follow the bier (funeral), but it was not made absolute on us.” (Reported by al-Bukhariyy and Muslim)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “When you follow a bier, do not sit until it is placed on the (ground).” (Reported by Muslim)

The graves: Hisham Ibn `Amir (RA) narrated that the Prophet (SAWS) said: “Dig graves, make them wide, bury two or three in a single grave. He was asked: Which of them should be put first? He replied: The one who knew the Qur'an most.” (Reported by at-Tirmidhiyy)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “The niche in the side of the grave is for us and the excavation in the middle is for others.” (Reported by at-Tirmidhiyy)

`Uthman Ibn-`Affan (RA) narrated: Whenever the Prophet (SAWS) became free from burying the dead, he used to stay at him (i.e. his grave) and say: “Seek forgiveness for your brother, and beg steadfastness for him, for he will be questioned now.” (Reported by Abu-Dawud)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “You should neither sit on the graves nor pray with your faces directed towards them.” (Reported by Muslim)

The Prophet (SAWS) said: “It is better that one of you sits on firebrand which will burn his clothes and the heat marks his skin, than sitting on a grave.” (Reported by Muslim)

Jabir Ibn-`Abdullah (RA) narrated: “On the day of Uhud, we brought the martyrs to bury them (at another place), but the crier of the Prophet (SAWS) came and said: The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) has commanded you to bury the martyrs at the place where they fell. So, we took them back.” (Reported by Abu-Dawud)