Chapter Thirteen: Funeral Rites and the Prayer Over the Deceased

باب الجَنَائِزِ

بَابُ الْجَنَائِزِ — (This chapter is about funerals)

قَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰی : وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلٰٓی اَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ مَّاتَ اَبَدًا وَّلَا تَقُمْ عَلٰی قَبْرِهٖ اِنَّهُمْ کَفَرُوْا بِاللّٰهِ وَرَسُوْلِهٖ وَمَاتُوْا وَهُمْ فٰسِقُوْنَ ـ

(al-Tawba 9:84)

Vocabulary: lā tuṣalli — do not pray, do not make supplication; lā taqum — do not stand; ʿalā qabrihī — by his grave.

Translation: Allah Most High said: "And if any of them dies, never pray (the funeral prayer) over him (do not make supplication for him), and do not stand by his grave. Indeed they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and when they died, they died as transgressors and wrongdoers." (al-Tawba 9:84)

عَنْ اَبِیْ سَعِیْدِ الْخُدْرِیِّ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ لَقِّنُوْا مَوْتَاکُمْ "لَا اِلٰهَ اِلَّا اللّٰهُ" ـ

(Reported by the Group except al-Bukhārī.)

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him) [narrates]; he said the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Prompt your dying (at the time of death) with lā ilāha illa'llāh (talqīn)." (It was reported by a group [of compilers] other than al-Bukhārī.)

عَنْ اَبِیْ قَتَادَةَ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ اَنَّ النَّبِیَّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ حِیْنَ قَدِمَ الْمَدِیْنَةَ سَاَلَ عَنِ الْبَرَاءِ بْنِ مَعْرُوْرٍ فَقَالُوْا تُوُفِّیَ وَاَوْصٰی اَنْ یُّوَجَّهَ اِلَی الْقِبْلَةِ فَقَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اَصَابَ الْفِطْرَةَ ثُمَّ ذَهَبَ فَصَلّٰی عَلَیْهِ ـ [reading uncertain]

(Reported by al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak in a sound hadith.)

Vocabulary: qadima — came, entered; tuwuffiya — passed away; yuwajjaha — that he be turned towards it.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Abū Qatāda (may Allah be pleased with him) [narrates] that when the Prophet ﷺ came to Madīna, he asked about al-Barāʾ ibn Maʿrūr. The people said that he had passed away and had left instructions that he be turned towards the qibla. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that he had attained the fiṭra (the natural way), and then he went and prayed [for him] at his grave. (Al-Ḥākim reported it in al-Mustadrak, in a sound hadith.)

عَنْ مَعْقِلِ بْنِ یَسَارٍ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ "اِقْرَءُوْا یٰسٓ عَلٰی مَوْتَاکُمْ".

(Reported by Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah and al-Nasāʾī; Ibn al-Qaṭṭān declared it defective (aʿallahū), and Ibn Ḥibbān declared it sound.)

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Maʿqil ibn Yasār (may Allah be pleased with him) [narrates]; he said the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Recite 'Yā Sīn' over your dead (those who are dying)." (Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah and al-Nasāʾī reported it, and Ibn Qaṭṭān gave it a high rank, and Ibn Ḥibbān declared it sound.) [reading uncertain]

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهَا اَنَّ رَسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ کُفِّنَ فِیْ ثَلٰثَةِ اَثْوَابٍ بِیْضٍ سَحُوْلِیَّةٍ لَیْسَ فِیْهَا قَمِیْصٌ وَّلَا عِمَامَةٌ ـ ☆

(Reported by the Group.)

Translation: Ḥaḍrat ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her) [narrates] that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was shrouded in three white cotton cloths. There was neither a shirt nor a turban among them. (It was reported by a group [of compilers].)

عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ کُفِّنَ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ فِیْ ثَلٰثِ اَثْوَابٍ قَمِیْصِهِ الَّذِیْ مَاتَ فِیْهِ وَحُلَّةٌ نَجْرَانِیَّةٌ ـ

(Reported by Abū Dāwūd.)

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) [narrates]; he said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was shrouded in three cloths: the shirt in which he passed away, and a Najrānī ḥulla (garment-set). (Abū Dāwūd reported it.)

(Let it be clear that a ḥulla consists of two cloths. — Academy)

عَنْ نَاصِحِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللّٰهِ الْکُوْفِیِّ عَنْ سِمَاکٍ عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ قَالَ کُفِّنَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِیْ ثَلٰثِ اثوابٍ قمیصٍ و ازارٍ و لِفَافَةٍ ـ

(Reported by Ibn ʿAdī.)

☆ قوله لیس فیها قمیص ولا عمامة اولیس قمیص و عمامة معدودین من جملة الثلاثة ـ بل زائدان علیها اذا الضمیر یرجع الی الثلثة لا الی الکفن ـ [reading uncertain]

Translation: The statement that "there was neither a shirt nor a turban among them" means that the shirt and turban are not counted among the three cloths; rather, the two of them are in addition to these, since the pronoun (the hāʾ in "fīhā") refers to the three (thalāthat athwāb), and not to the shroud.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Nāṣiḥ ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Kūfī [narrates] from Ḥaḍrat Simāk, and he from Jābir ibn Samura (may Allah be pleased with him); he said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was shrouded in three cloths: a shirt, a waist-wrapper (tahband) (or small sheet), and a lifāfa (large sheet). (Ibn ʿAdī reported it.)

عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ لَمَّا مَاتَ عَبْدُ اللّٰهِ بْنُ اُبَیٍّ جَآءَ ابْنُهٗ اِلَی النَّبِیِّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ فَقَالَ اَعْطِنِیْ قَمِیْصَکَ حَتّٰی اُکَفِّنَهٗ فِیْهِ وَصَلِّ عَلَیْهِ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهٗ فَاَعْطَاهُ قَمِیْصَهٗ ثُمَّ قَالَ اِذَا فَرَغْتُمْ الخ ـ

(Reported by al-Bukhārī, and by al-Nasāʾī in his al-Mujtabā — and the wording is his.)

Vocabulary: ukaffinahū — that I may shroud him; istaghfir lahū — pray for his forgiveness.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) [narrates]; he said that when ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy died, his son came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Give me your shirt so that I may shroud him (that is, my father) in it; and pray the funeral prayer over him and pray for his forgiveness." So he gave him his shirt, then said, "When you have finished…" etc. (Al-Bukhārī reported it, and al-Nasāʾī in his book "al-Mujtabā", and the wording is his.)

عَنْ لَیْلٰی بِنْتِ قَانِفٍ الثَّقَفِیَّةِ قَالَتْ کُنْتُ فِیْمَنْ غَسَلَ اُمَّ کُلْثُوْمٍ ابْنَةَ رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ عِنْدَ وَفَاتِهَا فَکَانَ اَوَّلَ مَا اَعْطَانِیْ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ اَلْحِقَاءَ ثُمَّ الدِّرْعَ ثُمَّ الْخِمَارَ ثُمَّ الْمِلْحَفَةَ ثُمَّ اُدْرِجَتْ بَعْدُ فِی الثَّوْبِ الْاٰخَرِ قَالَتْ وَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ جَالِسٌ عِنْدَ الْبَابِ معه کفنها یُنَاوِلُنَاهَا ثَوْبًا ثَوْبًا ـ

(Reported by Abū Dāwūd.)

Vocabulary: al-ḥiqāʾ — a breast-wrapper (sīna-band); al-dirʿ — a shift (kafnī, the shroud-shirt); al-khimār — a head-covering (oṛhnī); al-milḥafa — a waist-wrapper (small sheet); udrijat — she was put into, wrapped in; yunāwilunāhā — he hands it [to us], kept handing. [reading uncertain]

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Laylā bint Qānif al-Thaqafiyya [narrates]; she said: "I was among those who gave the ritual washing (ghusl) to Umm Kulthūm, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, at her death. So the first thing which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave me (of the shroud) was a breast-wrapper, then the shift (kafnī), then the head-covering, then the waist-wrapper (small sheet), then she was wrapped in the last cloth (sheet)." (The narrator said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting by the door, handing [us] the cloths one by one.) (Abū Dāwūd reported it.)

عَنْ عَوْفِ بْنِ مَالِکٍ الْاَشْجَعِیِّ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ اَنَّ النَّبِیَّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ

[reading uncertain]

صَلّٰی عَلٰی جَنَازَةٍ یَقُوْلُ "اَللّٰهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لَهٗ وَارْحَمْهُ وَاعْفُ عَنْهُ وَعَافِهٖ وَاَکْرِمْ نُزُلَهٗ وَ وَسِّعْ مَدْخَلَهٗ وَاغْسِلْهُ بِمَاءٍ وَّثَلْجٍ وَّبَرَدٍ وَ نَقِّهٖ مِنَ الْخَطَایَا کَمَا یُنَقَّی الثَّوْبُ الْاَبْیَضُ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ وَ اَبْدِلْهُ دَارًا خَیْرًا مِّنْ دَارِهٖ وَ اَهْلًا خَیْرًا مِّنْ اَهْلِهٖ وَزَوْجًا خَیْرًا مِّنْ زَوْجِهٖ وَقِهٖ فِتْنَةَ الْقَبْرِ وَعَذَابَ النَّارِ" قال عَوْفٌ فَتَمَنَّیْتُ اَنْ لَّوْ کُنْتُ اَنَا الْمَیِّتُ لِدُعَاءِ رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ عَلٰی ذٰلِکَ الْمَیِّتِ ـ

(Reported by Muslim.)

Vocabulary: wa-ʿfu ʿanhu — and pardon him; ʿāfihi — save him, protect him; nuzulahū — his place of alighting; madkhalahū — his place of entering; thalj — snow; barad — hail; naqqihī — purify him; al-danas — dirt; abdilhu — give him in exchange; tamannaytu — I wished.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat ʿAwf ibn Mālik al-Ashjaʿī (may Allah be pleased with him) [narrates]; he said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while leading a funeral prayer, say: 'O Allah! Forgive him, and have mercy on him, and pardon him, and protect him; and honour his place of alighting, and grant spaciousness to the place of his entering; and wash him with water, snow and hail, and make him as clean and pure of sins as a white cloth is cleansed of dirt; and give him, in exchange for his house, a house better than it, and a family (household) better than his family, and a wife better than his wife; and save him from the trial of the grave and from the punishment of Hell.'" ʿAwf says: "I wished that I had been that deceased person for whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made this supplication." (Muslim reported it.)

عَنْ اِبْرَاهِیْمَ الْاَنْصَارِیِّ عَنْ اَبِیْهِ اَنَّهٗ سَمِعَ النَّبِیَّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ یَقُوْلُ فِی الصَّلٰوةِ عَلَی الْمَیِّتِ : "اَللّٰهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِحَیِّنَا وَ مَیِّتِنَا وَشَاهِدِنَا وَ غَائِبِنَا وَذَکَرِنَا وَ اُنْثَانَا وَصَغِیْرِنَا وَکَبِیْرِنَا".

(Reported by al-Nasāʾī and al-Tirmidhī; he said it is a ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ hadith.)

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Ibrāhīm al-Anṣārī (may Allah be pleased with him) [narrates] from his father; he said he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say in the funeral prayer: "O Allah! Forgive (grant pardon to) our living and our dead, our present and our absent, our men and our women, and our young and our old." (Al-Nasāʾī and al-Tirmidhī reported it, and he said this hadith is ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.)

عَنْ عَلِیٍّ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ رَاَیْنَا رَسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ قَامَ فَقُمْنَا وَقَعَدَ فَقَعَدْنَا یَعْنِیْ فِی الْجَنَازَةِ ـ

(Reported by Muslim. And in the narration of Mālik and Abū Dāwūd: he stood for the funeral, then afterwards he sat.)

Translation: Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) [narrates]; he said: "We saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: when he stood up, we too stood up, and when he sat down, we too sat down" — that is, at a funeral. (Muslim reported it; and in the narration of Imām Mālik and Abū Dāwūd it is: he stood up for the funeral, then later sat down.)

عَنِ الْقَاسِمِ عن محمد بن ابی بکر رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ دَخَلْتُ عَلٰی عَائِشَةَ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهَا ـ فَقُلْتُ یَا اُمَّاهُ اِکْشِفِیْ لِیْ عَنْ قَبْرِ رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ وَصَاحِبَیْهِ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُمَا فَکَشَفَتْ لِیْ عَنْ ثَلٰثَةِ قُبُوْرٍ لَا مُشْرِفَةٍ وَّلَا لَاطِئَةٍ مَبْطُوْحَةٍ بِبَطْحَاءِ الْعَرْصَةِ الْحَمْرَاءِ ـ [reading uncertain]

(Reported by Abū Dāwūd and others.)

Vocabulary: ikshifī — uncover, open [for me]; mushrifa — raised high; lāṭiʾa — level with the ground; mabṭūḥa — spread [with]; baṭḥāʾ al-ʿarṣa al-ḥamrāʾ — red pebbles of the open ground.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) [narrates]; he said: "I came to ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and said to her, 'O mother! Uncover for me the graves of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his two Companions (may Allah be pleased with them both).' So she uncovered all three graves for me; they were neither raised high nor level with the ground, and were spread with red pebbles of the open ground." (Abū Dāwūd and others reported it.)

عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمٰنِ بْنِ الْعَلَاءِ بْنِ اللَّجْلَاجِ رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُمَا عَنْ اَبِیْهِ قَالَ قَالَ لِیْ اَبِی اللَّجْلَاجُ اَبُوْ خَالِدٍ یَا بُنَیَّ! اِذَا اَنَا مُتُّ فَالْحِدْنِیْ فَاِذَا وَضَعْتَنِیْ فِیْ لَحْدِیْ فَقُلْ "بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ وَعَلٰی مِلَّةِ رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ" ثُمَّ سُنَّ عَلَیَّ التُّرَابَ سَنًّا ثُمَّ اقْرَاْ عِنْدَ رَاْسِیْ بِفَاتِحَةِ الْبَقَرَةِ وَخَاتِمَتِهَا فَاِنِّیْ سَمِعْتُ رَسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ یَقُوْلُ ذٰلِکَ ـ

(Reported by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr, and its chain is sound.)

Translation: Ḥaḍrat ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Lajlāj (may Allah be pleased with them both) [narrates] from his father; he said that al-Lajlāj, Abū Khālid, said to him: "O my dear son! When I die, place me in a laḥd (a niche-grave). When you place me in my laḥd, say 'Bismi'llāhi wa ʿalā millati rasūli'llāh' (In the name of Allah and upon the religion of the Messenger of Allah). Then pour the earth over me well. Then recite at my head the opening and closing verses of Sūrat al-Baqara, for I have heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recite this." (Al-Ṭabarānī reported it in "al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr", and its chain is sound.) [reading uncertain]