Things that should be done with the deceased after his death

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Things that should be done with the deceased after his death (1)

‘Abdullah bin Hamoud al-Furaih


Things that should be done with the deceased after his death

It is a Sunnah to close the eyes of the dead after his soul leaves then reciting the relevant invocation.

When a person dies, his eyes follows his soul to see its place.. It is a Sunnah to close his eyes so that they do not remain open and distort his shape thereafter.
The proof to this from the Sunnah is the Hadith of Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) who said: “The Messenger of Allah ((peace be upon him)) came to Abu Salamah (as he died). His eyes were fixedly open. He closed them, and then said: When the soul is taken away, the sight follows it. Some of the people of his family wept and wailed. So, he said: Do not supplicate for yourselves anything but good, for angels say: "Amen" to what you say. He then said: O Allah, forgive Abu Salamah, raise his degree among those who are rightly guided, grant him a successor in his descendants who remain. Forgive us and him, O Lord of the Universe, and make his grave spacious, and grant him light in it.”[1]

What is taken from this Hadith is that it is Sunnah to make this invocation after closing the eyes, following the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who said: O Allah, forgive so and so (the name of the deceased is mentioned) and then the remaining supplication comes.
It is part of the Sunnah to cover the deceased after his death with a cloth to covers them completely.

(This is) because of the Hadith of `A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) who narrated that: “When the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) died, he was covered with aHibra Burd”[2]


“Burd”: A cloth that includes and covers the whole body. “Hibra” Burd cloth that was known at the time and came from Yemen.


Is there any sign appears on the body to indicate death?

Yes, there are signs that indicate the death of a person which show on the body. Among them:
1: Relaxation of the “sadgh.” “Sadgh” is the area between the eyes and the ears
2: Inclination of the nose.
3: Separation of the palms – as if they are dislocated from arms.
4: Separation of the feet so that the legs seems to be separated from ankles. They are not upright but relax. Some people add: closing the eyes and stretching the skin of the face.[3]

[1] Narrated by Muslim number (920)

[2] Narrated by Al Bukhari number (5814). Narrated by Muslim number (942)

[3] Look at: Hashiyat Ibn Qassim (3/24)

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Things that should be done with the deceased after his death (2)

‘Abdullah bin Hamoud al-Furaih


Things that should be done with the deceased after his death



It is part of the Sunnah to hasten to prepare the deceased.

The Sunnah is taken from the common Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Make haste at a funeral; if the dead person was good, it is a good state to which you are sending him to. However, if he was otherwise, it is an evil which you are getting rid of.”[1]

The meaning of the Hadith is accelerating the funeral procedures as people carry it on their shoulders to bury it, but this is useful also in accelerating the preparation of the dead.
Al Qurtubi (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The meaning of the Hadith is not be slow in burying the dead.”[2]
• A warning: Among the common mistakes of our time is slowing down the preparation of the deceased because of waiting for relatives or travelers who might be in another country, so a deceased is left for a day or more. This is an aggression against the deceased as it controdicts the Sunnah. As for the simple delay such as a person dies at the beginning of the day and its funeral is delayed to noon or afternoon. Or if a person dies on Friday morning and is delayed until Friday Prayer because of the large crowd, then there is no harm because the delay has a benefit for the deceased.


Accelerating the enforcement of the deceased's will.

Enforcing the will is either a Sunnah or obligatory according to the bequeathed. If the bequesed is essential such as blood money and others, accelerating to enforce it is obligatory, otherwise it will be a Sunnah.


It is important to hasten to pay the debt of the deceased

That is if he left wealth. The dealing needs to be initiated. Unfortunately, many people are slow with this. They are slow with this and delay it and do not feel that this is a serious issue for the deceased. This debt needs to be dealt with before dividing the inheritance, regardless of whether it is a debt for Allah Almighty such as Zakat, Kaffara, a warning of obedience or Hajj or debts for people, returning a trust (belongings), wrong doing, anger or other than that from the rights of people.


Proof of that:
A. The Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The believer's soul is suspended by his debt until it is settled for him.”[3] .
B. The Hadith of Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) who said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “All the sins of a martyr are forgiven except debt.” In a narration: “Death in the way of Allah blots out everything except debt..”[4]
C. The Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that “when the body of a dead indebted person was brought to Allah's Messenger ((peace be upon him)), he would ask whether he had left property enough to clear off his debt, and if the property left had been sufficient for that (purpose), he observed funeral Salah for him, otherwise he said (to his companions): You perform Salah for your companion. But when Allah opened the gateways of victory for him, he said: I am nearer to the believers than themselves, so if anyone dies leaving a debt, its payment is my responsibility, and if anyone leaves a property, it goes to his heirs.”[5]

[1] Narrated by Al Bukhari number (1514). Narrated by Muslim number (944)

[2] Look at: Al Mufhim (2/603)

[3] Narrated by Ahmad number (10599). Narrated by At-Tirmidhy number (1078) and said that it is an authentic Hadith

[4] Narrated by Muslim number (1886)

[5] Narrated by Al Bukhari number (2289). Narrated by Muslim number (1619)