Few rulings of funeral procession

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Few rulings of funeral procession
حسام بن عبدالعزيز الجبرين

Few rulings of funeral procession



Praise be to Allah، the Mighty، the Forgiving، the Guardian of the Righteous and the Destroyer of the Immoral، "The day on which this earth will be turned into some other earth، and the skies as well، and they all shall appear before Allah، the One، the All-Dominant".

And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone، who has no partner، and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger، who is sent with the words which are concise but comprehensive in meaning; the seal of the messengers from the Arabs and non-Arabs، may Allah،s prayers and peace be upon him، his family and companions abundantly.

How beautiful piety is and how sweet is the way of it، but we are heedless of it and we show negligence about it.

أَسَأْنا وقصَّرْنا وجُودُكَ أعْظَمُ
إلَهِي تَحَمَّلْنَا ذُنُوبًا عَظِيْمَةً

وأنتَ تَرانَا ثُمَّ تَعْفُو وتَرْحَمُّ
سَتَرْنَا مَعَاصِيْنا عن الخلقِ غَفْلَةً

صُدُودُكَ عَنْهُ بلْ يَخَافُ ويَنْدَمُ
وَحَقِّك ما فِيْنَا مُسِيءٌ يَسُرُّهُ

فأنْتَ الذِيْ تُولِيْ الجَمِيلَ وَتُكْرِمُ
إلَهِي فَجُدْ واصْفحَ وأَصْلِحْ قلُوبنا

(Allah، we have committed great sins، we have offended and neglected thinking that your generosity is greater.

We committed sins carelessly hiding from the creation while you were seeing us، thinking that you are Forgiving and Merciful.

By You، no wrong doer among us likes to be away from You، but he fears and regrets،

O my Allah، pardon us، forgive us، and overlook us and purify our hearts. You are the one who gives beauty and honors)

Brothers in faith،
The law of our Lord urges marriages and motivates to merry with religiously and morally committed men and women، and the Sharia commands to pay special attention to education and good upbringing. The depth of our religion is the ties between people. So، Islam legislated the various rights and different manners and morals، and forbade from all kinds of harm، which shows the Lord،s care for His servants before their birth، during their childhood، and in their manhood and in old age. Rather، attention of our lord has transcended from the living to the dead. So، rulings were legislated before، during and after death، which affirms Allah،s kindness to his deceased servant، preserving his dignity and kindness to him. So، he prescribed to indoctrinate deceased servant، to bath him، to shroud him، to observe salah upon him، to walk in his funeral procession with serenity and reverence، and He prescribed to pray for him and other things too.

Today، our discussion is about the Sunnahs and rulings related to death.

﴿ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ وَما الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلاَّ مَتَاعُ الْغُرُور ﴾ [آل عمران: 185]
“Every soul has to taste death. It is on the Day of Judgement that you shall be paid your rewards in full. So، whoever has been kept away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has really succeeded. The worldly life is nothing but an illusionary enjoyment”.

Honorable people،
Whoever is encountered by death، it is desirable for those around him to repeat before him the words of shahdah. Because it is narrated from Anas bin Malik، may Allah be pleased with him: The Messenger of Allah PBUH visited a man from the Ansar and said: “Oh uncle، say: None has the right to be worshipped except Allah.” Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Majah and authenticated by Al-Albani and in the other hadith: Prompt your dying ones to say La ilaha illallah (there is none worthy of worship except Allah). If anyone's last words are "There is no god but Allah" he will enter Paradise one day in long periods of time. No matter، how much he suffered from punishment before that”. Authenticated by Al-Albani.

As it is also desirable to supplicate for him and to say nothing except good.

Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: Whenever you visit the sick or the dead، supplicate for good because angels say" Amen" to whatever you say. Narrated by Muslim.

When the death is proven، it is sunnah to close the eyes of deceased، according to the hadith of Umm Salamah، she said: “The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) came to Abu Salama (as he died). His eyes were fixedly open. He closed them، and then said: When the soul is taken away the sight follows it”. Narrated by Muslim.

It is Sunnah to cover the entire body of the dead، according to the hadith of Aisha، may Allah be pleased with her، who said: “When the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) died، he was covered with a Yamani wrapper”. It is included by Bukhari and Muslim.

As long as the deceased is not mahram (unmarriageable person)، so do not cover his head.

It is permissible to uncover the face of the dead and kiss him. It is narrated from Aisha that "The Prophet kissed Uthman bin Maz'un when he died، and he was crying." Or، he (one of the narrators) said: "His eyes were brimming with tears." Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi and authenticated by Al-Albani. As asking forgiveness for the dead is also permissible.


Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) gave us the news of the death of Negus، the ruler of Abyssinia، on the day when he died، and he said (to us): Beg pardon for your brother”. Narrated by Muslim and Bukhari

Honorable people،
It is prescribed to undertake to pay the debt on behalf of the dead. and it is the dignity of the Muslim to bath him and shroud him while covering him and to respect his corpse. The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: Breaking a dead man's bone is like breaking it when he is alive. It is included by Abu Dawood and Al-Nasa،i، and it is authenticated by Al-Albani.

And the most deserving of people to give bath to the deceased is the one who is recommended by him، because Abu Bakr as-Siddiq recommended that his wife، Asma bint Umays، will bath him، so she did that.

And Anas recommended that Muhammad bin Sirin will bath him.

The deceased has sanctity، so there should not remain، when giving him bath، except for those who need to stay and participate in giving bath، and whoever loves to say goodbye with a kiss، so، it should be done after bathing and before closing the shroud.

And here is a linguistic benefit. Some scholars said that a person after his soul departs is called a “corpse”، and after bathing and shrouding is called a “funeral”، and after burial، is called a “grave”.

Among the rights of a Muslim over his brother is to follow his funeral; In Sahih Muslim، the Prophet، peace and blessings be upon him، said: “The rights of a Muslims over a Muslims are five - and he mentioned among them: following funeral processions.” Rather، there is a great reward in following funeral processions. Prophet، peace and blessings be upon him، said: "Whoever attends the funeral procession till he offers the funeral prayer for it، will get a reward equal to one Qirat، and whoever accompanies it till burial، will get a reward equal to two Qirats." It was asked، "What are two Qirats?" He replied، "Like two huge mountains”. Narrated by Bukhari and Muslims.

نَادِ القُصورَ التي أقوَتْ مَعالِمُها
أيْنَ الجسُومُ التي طابَتْ مَطَاعِمُهَا

أيْنَ المُلُوكُ وأبْنَاءُ الملوك ومَن
أَلْهاهُ ناضِرُ دُنياهُ وناعِمُها

أينَ الذين لهَوْا عَمَّا لهُ خُلِقُوا
كَمَا لَهَتْ في مَرَاعِيهَا سَوائِمُهَا

أينَ البيُوتُ التي مِن عَسْجدٍ نُسجَتْ
هَلُ الدنَانيرُ أغنَتْ أمْ دَرَاهِمُهَا

أينَ العُيونُ التي نامَتْ فما انَتَبَهَتْ
وَاهًا لها نَوْمَةً ما هَبَّ نائِمُهَا

(Call out the palaces that strengthened their landmarks
Where are the bodies whose food was quite good?

Where are the kings، the sons of kings and those who were amused by blessings and bounties of the worlds?

Where are those who were distracted from what they were created for? as the gazing animals distracted in grassland.
Where are the houses made of gold?

Did dinars or dirhams prove useful for them?

Where are the eyes that slept and didn't notice?
Alas، they were asleep، but their sleep did not awaken).

Oh، Allah، forgive us and have mercy on us، Oh Allah، we ask for a good conclusion….

Second sermon

Paise belongs to Allah.
Afterwards،
Brothers in Islam،
one of the rulings related to funerals (may our Conclusion be the bests) is the permissibility of walking in front of the funeral or behind it. It is all mentioned in the Sunnah. Anas bin Malik narrated: "The Messenger of Allah would walk in front of the funeral، as did Abu Bakr، Umar and Uthman.” Narrated by Ibn Majah and authenticated by Albanian.

And some scholars preferred to walk behind a funeral، because it is required to follow the funeral، and the matter is spacious.

It is Sunnah to hurry to the funeral، it is in the hadeeth: Make haste at a funeral; if the dead person was good، it is a good state to which you are sending him on; but if he was otherwise، it is an evil of which you are ridding yourselves. Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim.

When entering the cemetery، it is prescribed to say:
السلامُ عليكُمْ دارَ قومٍ مُؤمنينَ. وإنا، إنْ شاء اللهُ، بكمْ لاحقونَ
(Peace be upon you، the abode of a believing people and we، if Allah so wills، are about to join you).

On the authority of Abu Hurairah، may Allah be pleased with him، that The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) came to the graveyard and said: "Peace be upon you! The abode of the believing people and we، if Allah so wills، are about to join you”. Narrated by Muslim.

And the guardians and relatives of the decreased are more deserving to bring him down.

﴿ وَأُوْلُواْ الأَرْحَامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلَى بِبَعْضٍ فِي كِتَابِ اللّهِ ﴾
“As for the womb-relatives، they are closer to one another according to the Book of Allah”.

And it is Sunnah to bring down the dead from the feet of the grave (the left side) and place the dead on his right side، facing the qiblah، and the one who places the dead in his grave، would say:
بسم الله، وعلى سنة رسول الله، أو: ملة رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم
On the authority of Ibn Umar، may Allah be pleased with him، he said: "When the Prophet put the deceased in the grave" He said: And Abu Khalid (one of the narrators) said [one time]: "When he placed the deceased in the Lahd" - "He said one time: 'In the Name of Allah، by His command and upon the Millah of the Messenger of Allah.' and one time he said: 'In the Name of Allah، by His command and upon the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah."

And loosen the knots of wraps. There is a trace regarding it on the authority of Abdullah bin Masoud - may Allah be pleased with him - that he said: “If you enter the dead in the grave، loosen the knot.”

As for the hadith of the Three Hathwat (fillings)، some people of knowledge said: the chain of transmission of it is authentic، and some of them said that it is weak. However، the matter is spacious.

And it is Sunnah to raise the grave from the ground a little about an inch، and it is sunnah to make it humpy، and it is Sunnah to place pebbles on the grave and then sprinkle it with water to stabilize the dirt. There is nothing wrong with marking the grave by placing the stones on its two ends.

And after burial، it is Sunnah to pray for the dead for forgiveness and confirmation. On the authority of Usman bin Affan، may Allah be pleased with him، he said: Whenever the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) 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”. Narrated by Abu Dawood and authenticated by Al-Albani.

It is forbidden to sit on the grave، as well as stepping on it، in the hadith of Muslim: “It is better that one of you should sit on live coals which would burn his clothing and come in contact with his skin than that he should sit on a grave”.

Brothers in faith،
There should be stillness، reverence and respect in funeral procession. The great Tabai Qais bin Abbad said: The companions of the Prophet، may Allah bless him and grant him peace، hated raising the voice at funerals.

And Bara of Bin Azab said: We went out with the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) accompanying the bier of a man of the Ansar. When we reached his grave، it was not yet dug. So، the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) sat down and we also sat down around him as if birds were over our heads”.

Al-Tayyibi said: It is a ****phor for their holding down their heads، their silence، and their inattention to the right and to the left. That is، on the head of every one there is a bird that he wants to catch it، but he does not move.

It is، sometimes، noticed، in some funerals، the appearance of voices، the abundance of directions، and sometimes the continuation of the ringing of phones. The worst of that the joking and laughter is seen too.

Offering condolences to the family of the deceased is a Sunnah، and it is permissible to offer condolences in every place، in the market، home، mosque، work etc.

And we should know that kissing the consolable is not from the Sunnah of condolences، for shaking hands and kissing are related to meeting in general. And if the general public were satisfied with shaking hands and kissing the closely related to him، it would have been less hardship on the consolable، especially when there are many mourners.

And after the servants of Allah، send peace and blessings...