Funerals

Abu Musa reported God’s messenger as saying, “Feed the hungry, visit the sick and free the captive.”

to return a salutation, visit the sick, follow funerals, accept an invitation and say ‘God have mercy on you’ when one sneezes.

He reported God’s messenger as saying, “A Muslim has six duties towards another Muslim.” When asked what they were he replied, “When you meet him salute him; when he issues an invitation to you, accept it; when he asks your advice give it to him; when he sneezes and praises God say, ‘God have mercy on you’; when he is ill visit him; and when he dies follow him to the grave.”

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) gave us seven commands and seven prohibitions. He commanded us to visit the sick, to follow funerals, to say ‘God have mercy on you’ when someone sneezes, to return salutations, to accept invitations, to help people to fulfil their oaths, and to help the wronged; and he forbade us gold rings, silk, thick brocade, embroidered silk, red stuffing placed on a saddle, Qassi garments (said to be cloth made of flax and raw silk which came from a place in Egypt called Qass between al-‘Arish and al-Farama. Another suggestion is that the name is changed from qazzi and means silk.)

and silver vessels. A version says drinking from silver vessels, for he who drinks out of them in this world will not drink out of them in the next.’

Thauban reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a Muslim pays a sick visit to his brother Muslim he continues to gather the fruits of paradise till he returns.”

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) went in to visit a Bedouin Arab, and when he entered to visit a sick man he was accustomed to say, “No harm will come; it is a purification, if God will.” He repeated these words, and when the man replied, “Not at all; it is on the contrary a fever which is boiling in an old man and will cause him to visit the graves,” the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Very well, then.” Bukharl transmitted it.

When one of us had a complaint God’s messenger wiped him with his right hand and then said, “Remove the harm, Lord of men, and give healing. Thou art the Healer. There is no healing but Thine, a healing which leaves no illness behind.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

She said that when a person complained of some trouble, or if he had a sore or a wound, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would say while pointing with his finger, “In the name of God. It is the soil of our land with the spittle of one of us (the suggestion is that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) took some earth on his finger and spat on it), that our sick one may be healed by our Lord’s permission.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

She said that when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had a complaint he would blow on himself, ejecting saliva, reciting the Muawwidhat (See n. 1, p, 197.), and wipe himself with his hand.

She said, “When he suffered from the pain of which he died, I would blow on him ejecting saliva and recite the Muawwidhat as he did, and would take the Prophet’s hand to wipe him.” (Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version by Muslim she said, “When one of his family was ill he would blow on him ejecting saliva and recite the Muawwidhat.”

Uthman ibn Abul ‘As said he complained to God’s messenger of a pain he had in his body, and he told him to put his hand on the part of his body which was sore and say three times ‘In the name of God,’ and seven times, ‘I seek refuge in God’s might and power from the evil of what I am experiencing and trying to avert.’ He said he did so, and God removed his trouble.’

Abu Said al-Khudri said Gabriel came to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and asked, “Have you a complaint, Muhammad?” When he replied that he had, he said, “In the name of God I am applying a charm to you from everything which may harm you, from the evil of every evil eye, or eye of an envious one. God heals you. In the name of God I am applying a charm to you.”

God’s messenger used to commend al-Hasan and al-Husain to God’s protection, saying “With God’s perfect words I commend you to God’s protection from every devil and poisonous creature and from every evil eye.” And he would say, “Your ancestor used to commend Ishmael and Isaac with them to God’s protection.”(Abraham is here said to have done to his sons the same as the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) did to his grandsons.) Bukhari transmitted it. Most texts of al-Masabih have “with them” in the dual.

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “Anyone for whom God intends good is made to suffer some affliction from Him.”

He and Abu Said reported the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) as saying, “No Muslim is afflicted by difficulty, continuous pain, anxiety, grief, injury, or care, or even by a thorn with which he is pierced, without God thereby making an atonement for his sins.”

I went in to visit the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) when he was jaded by fever, and touching him with my hand, I said, “You are seriously jaded by fever, messenger of God.”

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) replied, “Yes, I am twice as jaded as any of you.” I said, “That is because you have a double reward.” He replied that that was so and then said, “No Muslim is afflicted by injury, be it illness or something else, without God thereby causing his sins to drop away just as a tree sheds its leaves.”

Aishah said she never saw anyone suffering severer pain than God’s messenger.

She said, “The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) died lying between my breast and my collarbone. I will never feel bad about anyone having a painful death after what I saw the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) suffer.”

Kab ibn Malik reported God’s messenger as saying, “The believer is like a tender plant moved by the winds, sometimes being bent down and sometimes made to stand up straight, till his appointed time comes; but the hypocrite is like the cedar standing firmly, which is unaffected by anything, till it is completely cast down.”(The idea of this tradition is that believers have many troubles during their lifetime, whereas hypocrites escape them.) (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “The believer is like a plant which is continually swayed by the wind, for the believer is continually afflicted by trial; but the hypocrite is like a cedar tree which does not shake till it is cut down.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Jabir told of God’s messenger visiting Umm as-Saib (Ibn Abd al-Barr (Istiab, p. 781) gives her name in this form, but says she is called by some Umm al-Musayyib) and asking, “What is the matter with you that you are trembling?” She replied, “Fever; may God not bless it.” He said, “Do not revile fever, for it removes the sins of the sons of Adam just as the bellows remove the dross of iron.”

Abu Musa reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a man is ill or on a journey, what he was accustomed to do when staying at home and well will be recorded for him.”(This refers to his observance of salat, etc., cf. the traditions of Abdallah ibn Amr and Anas on p. 326.)

Anas reported God’s messenger as saying, “Every Muslim who dies of plague is credited with martyrdom.”

one who dies of plague, one who dies of an internal complaint, one who is drowned, one who is killed by his house falling on him, and the martyr in God’s path.

Aishah said, “I asked God’s messenger about plague and he told me it is a punishment God sends upon whomsoever He wills, but God has made it a blessing to the believers. When plague comes, anyone who stays patiently in his town looking for his reward from God, knowing that only what God has decreed for him can happen to him, will have a reward like that of a martyr.”

Usamah ibn Zayd reported God’s messenger as saying, “Plague is a punishment which was sent down on a section of the B. Isrsil, or on people before your time. When you hear of it in a land do not go to it, and if it occurs in a land while you are in it do not go out fleeing from it.”

Anas said he heard the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) declare that God who is glorious and exalted said, “When I afflict my servant in his two loved things (i.e. his eyes), and he endures patiently, I shall compensate him for them with paradise.”

‘All said he heard God’s messenger say, ‘No Muslim will pay a sick visit to another in the morning without seventy thousand angels invoking blessings on him till the evening, or visit him in the evening without seventy thousand angels invoking blessings on him till the morning, and he will have gathered fruits (the word used here is kharif, one of whose meanings is gathered or plucked fruits) in paradise.’’

Zayd ibn Arqam said the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) visited him when he had a pain in his eyes.

as saying, “If anyone performs ablution well and pays a sick visit to his brother Muslim seeking his reward from God, he will be removed a distance of sixty years (here kharif is used in another of its meanings) from jahannam.”

Ibn Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying, “No Muslim will visit another and say seven times, ‘I ask God, the Mighty, the Lord of the mighty throne, to cure you’ without his being cured, unless his time has come.”

He said that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to teach them to say when afflicted by fever or any pain, “In the name of God, the Great, I seek refuge in God, the Mighty, from the evil of every vein that bleeds and from the evil of the heat of hell.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, but said this was a gharib tradition which he knew only among the traditions of Ibrahim ibn Ismail who is declared to be weak in tradition.

Abud Darda said he heard God’s messenger say, “If one of you has any complaint, or if a brother of his complains of it, he should say, ‘Our Lord God who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy command is in the heaven and the earth. As Thy mercy is in the heaven so place Thy mercy in the earth. Forgive us our faults and sins. Thou art the Lord of the good ones. Send down some of Thy mercy and some of Thy healing on this pain’ and it will be cured.”

Abdallah ibn Amr reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a man comes to visit an invalid he should say, ‘O God, cure Thy servant who may then wreak havoc on an enemy for Thy sake, or walk at a funeral for Thy sake’.”

Ali ibn Zaid quoted Umayya as saying that she asked Aishah about the words of God who is great and glorious, “Whether you publish what is in your minds or conceal it, God will call you to account for it,” (Qur’an, ii, 284) and His words, “If anyone does evil he will be requited for it.”(Qur’an, iv, 123).

She replied that no one had asked her about them since she had asked God’s messenger and received the reply, “This is God’s rebuke of His servant, by means of fever or misfortune with which He afflicts him, even such a matter as something he puts in his sleeve and grieves for when he loses it. The result is that the servant comes out of his sins as the pure gold comes out of the crucible.”

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:, “No affliction great or small afflicts a man but for a sin, but there are more which God forgives.” Then he recited, “Whatever misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have done; but He forgives much.”(Qur’an, xlii, 30)

Abdallah ibn Amr reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a servant of God is accustomed to worship Him in a good manner, then becomes ill, the angel who is entrusted with him is told to record for him actions equivalent to those which he did when he was well till God sets him free from his illness or takes him in death.” Transmitted in Sharh as-sunna.

Anas reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a Muslim is afflicted with some trouble in his body the angel is told to record for him his good deeds which he was accustomed to do. Then if God cures him He washes and purifies him, and if He takes him in death He forgives him and shows mercy to him.” Transmitted in Sharh as-sunna.

Jabir ibn ‘Atik reported God’s messenger as saying, ‘There are seven types of martyrdom apart from being killed in God’s path. Those who die of plague, those who are drowned, those who die of pleurisy, those who die of an internal complaint, those who are burnt to death, those who are killed by a building falling on them, and women who die while pregnant are martyrs.’ Malik, Abu Dawud and Nasai transmitted it.’

When the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was asked which people suffered the greatest affliction he replied, “The prophets, then those who come next to them, then those who come next to them. A man is afflicted in keeping with his religion; if he is firm in his religion his trial is severe, but if there is weakness in his religion it is made light for him, and it continues like that till he walks on the earth having no sin.”

‘A isha said, ‘I do not envy anyone an easy death after having seen the severity of the death of God’s messenger.’ Tirmidhi and Nasai transmitted it.’

I saw the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) when he was dying. He had a drinking-cup containing water, and he would put his hand into the cup, then wipe his face, then say, “O God, help me to bear the evils of death,” or, “the pangs of death.”

Anas reported God’s messenger as saying, “When God has a good purpose towards His servant He gives him punishment beforehand in this world, but when He has an evil purpose towards His servant He refrains from dealing with his sin till He takes from him full payment for it on the day of resurrection.”

He reported God’s messenger as saying, “The magnitude of the reward goes along with the magnitude of the affliction. When God who is great and glorious loves people He afflicts them, and those who accept it gladly receive God’s good pleasure, but those who are displeased receive God’s displeasure.”

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “The believing man or woman continues to have affliction in person, property and children so that they (this is a little difficult to translate. The Arabic has ‘he’, but the pronoun refers to the man or woman mentioned. I have therefore compromised by using the plural) may finally meet God free from sin.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Malik transmitted something similar. Tirmidhi said this is a hasan sahih tradition.

Muhammad ibn Khalid as-Sulami on his father’s authority said his grandfather reported God’s messenger as saying, “When God has previously decreed for a servant a rank which he has not attained by his action, He afflicts him in his body, or his property, or his children. He then enables him to endure that so that He may bring him to the rank previously decreed for him by God.”

Abdallah ibn Shikhkhir reported God’s messenger as saying, “The son of Adam was created with ninety-nine trials at his side. If the trials miss him he falls into decrepitude till he dies.”

Jabir reported God’s messenger as saying, “On the day of resurrection, when people who have suffered affliction are given their reward, those who are healthy will wish their skins had been cut to pieces with scissors when they were in the world.”

Amir ar-Ram told that God’s messenger mentioned illnesses and said, “When a believer is afflicted by illness and God who is great and glorious cures him of it, it serves as an atonement for his previous sins and a warning to him for the future; but when a hypocrite becomes ill and then is cured he is like a camel which has been tethered and then let loose by its owners, but does not know why they tethered it and why they let it loose.”

When a man asked God’s messenger what illnesses were, adding that he swore by God he had never been ill, he said, “Get up and leave us; you do not belong to our number.”

Abu Said reported God’s messenger as saying, “When you go in to visit an invalid, express a hope that he will live long. That will not avert anything, but it will comfort him.” Tirmidhl and.

Sulayman ibn Surad reported God’s messenger as saying, “He who dies of an internal trouble will not be punished in his grave.”

Anas told that when a young Jew who was a servant of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) became ill the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) went to visit him and, sitting down by his head, said to him, “Accept Islam.” He looked at his father who was beside him, and he said, “Obey Abul Qasim.” So he accepted Islam, and the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) went out saying, “Praise be to God who has saved him from hell.”

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, ‘‘If anyone visits an invalid, one cries out from heaven, ‘May you be good, may your walk be good, and may you come to an abode in paradise!’’’

When Ali came out after visiting the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) during the painful illness of which he died, the people asked, “How is God’s messenger this morning, Abul Hasan?” He replied, “Praise be to God, he is getting better.”

This black woman came to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and said, “Messenger of God, I am subject to fits and become uncovered, so make supplication to God for me.” He replied, “If you wish you may endure it and be rewarded with paradise, but if your wish I shall make supplication to God to cure you.” She said, “I shall endure it.” Then she added, “But since I become uncovered, make supplication to God that that may not happen.” He then made supplication for her.

When a certain man died in the time of God’s messenger another said, “Congratulations to him! He has died without being afflicted by illness.” God’s messenger then said, “I’m sorry for you. What do you know about it? (literally, ‘What makes you know?’ After this one understands some such words as, ‘that lack of illness is a mark of honour.’) Would that God had afflicted him with illness, and it had atoned for his evil deeds!”

Shaddad ibn Aus and as-Sunabihi told how, when they went to visit an invalid, they said to him, “How are you this morning?” He replied, “I am quite comfortable this morning.”

Shaddad told him to rejoice that his evil deeds had been atoned for and his sins remitted, for he had heard God’s messenger declare that God who is great and glorious says, “When I afflict a servant of mine who is a believer and he praises me for the affliction I have brought upon him, he will rise from that couch of his as sinless as he was the day his mother gave birth to him.”

The Lord who is blessed and exalted will say, “I fettered and afflicted my servant, so record for him what you were recording for him when he was well.”

Aishah reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a man’s sins are numerous and he has no good deeds wherewith to atone for them, God afflicts him with sorrow to remove them from him.”

Jabir reported God’s messenger as saying, “When one visits an invalid he continues to plunge into mercy till he sits down, and when he sits down he is immersed in it.”

Thauban reported God’s messenger as saying, “When one of you has an attack of fever the fever is a portion of hell, so he should quench it with water, bathing in a flowing stream facing the direction of the current and saying, ‘In the name of God. O God, heal Thy servant and varify Thy messenger’ after the morning prayer before sunrise.

He should dip himself in it three times a day for three days, and if he is not cured in three days, then for five days, and if he is not cured in five days, then for seven, and if he is not cured in seven days, then for nine, for it will hardly last more than nine days by the permission of God who is great and glorious.”

Fever was mentioned in the presence of God’s messenger, and when a man reviled it the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Do not revile it, for it removes sins as fire removes the dross of iron.”

He said that God’s messenger said to an invalid whom he visited, “Cheer up, for God most high says, ‘It is my fire to which I give power over my believing servant in the world to be his portion of hell on the day of resurrection.’ Ahmad, Ibn Majah and Baihaqi, in Shuab al- iman, transmitted it.”

Anas reported God’s messenger as stating that the Lord who is glorious and exalted says, “By my might and glory, I will not take out of the world anyone I intend to forgive till I get payment for every sin which hangs on his neck by illness in his body and scarcity in his provision.” Razin transmitted it.

Shaqiq said he visited Abdallah ibn Masud when he was ill, and he began to weep. On being reproved by someone he said, “I am not weeping because of the illness, because I heard God’s messenger say that illness is an atonement; I am weeping simply because it has come to me when my powers are weakened and did not come when I was active, because a servant of God has recorded for him such reward when he is ill as was being recorded for him before he became ill and the illness prevented him from doing.” Razln transmitted it.

Anas said the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was not accustomed to visit an invalid till he had been ill for three days. Ibn Majah and Baihaqi, in Shuab al- iman, transmitted it.

Umar ibn al-Khattab reported God’s messenger as saying, “When you visit an invalid tell him to make supplication for you, for his supplication is like that of the angels.”

Staying for a short time and making little noise when visiting an invalid is part of the sunna. He reported God’s messenger as saying, when their clamour and disagreement became excessive, “Get up and leave me.”(This was during the Prophet’s last illness, the disagreement taking place regarding the advisability of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) giving them further written instructions.) Razin transmitted it.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:, “A visit should last as long as the time between the two milkings of a she-camel.”(The reference is to the practice of drawing some milk from the camel, then leaving her for a little for her young to suck milk. When she then let her milk flow copiously she was milked again.) In the version of Said b.

al-Musayyib in mursal form it says, “The best type of sick visit is when one gets up and departs soon.”(While this is more explicit to one who is not familiar with the milking of camels, the meaning is the same as in the form given by Anas.) Baihaqi transmitted it in Shuab al-iman.

Ibn Abbas said the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) once visited a man and asked him what he would like. When he replied that he would like some wheaten bread the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Let anyone who has any wheaten bread send it to his brother,” adding, “When any of you has an invalid who expresses a desire for something, give it to him to eat.”

Abdallah ibn Amr said that when a man who had been born in Medina died there, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) prayed at his funeral and said, “Would that he had died somewhere else than in his birthplace!” On being asked why he had said that he replied, “When a man dies somewhere else than in his birthplace a space will be measured for him in paradise equal to the distance between his birthplace and the place where he died.” NasaI and.

Ibn Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying, “Dying abroad is treated as martyrdom.”

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “He who dies of an illness dies as a martyr, or he will be guarded from the trial in the grave, and will have his provision brought him morning and evening from paradise.” Ibn Majah and BaihaqI, in Shuab al-iman, transmitted it.

The martyrs and those who die on their beds will apply to our Lord who is great and glorious for a decision regarding those who die of plague. The martyrs will say, “Our brethren were killed just as we were and those who died a natural death will say, ‘Our brethren died on their beds just as we died.’. Our Lord will reply, ‘Look at their wound, for if their wounds resemble those of people who have been killed they are of their number and will be associated with them, for their wounds have resembled theirs.’ Ahmad and Nasai transmitted it.”

Jabir reported God’s messenger as saying, “He who runs away from plague like him who runs away from battle, but he who meets it with endurance will have a martyr’s reward.”

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “None of you must wish for death; neither one who does well, for perhaps he may do still more good, nor one who does ill, for perhaps he may seek to please God.”

He reported God’s messenger as saying, “None of you must wish or pray for death before it comes to him. When one dies his hope is cut off, but the continued life of a believer only brings him more good.”

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:, “None of you must wish for death because he is afflicted by evil circumstances, but if he cannot help doing so he should say, ‘O God, give me life as long as life is better for me, and take me when death is better for me.’”

Ubada b. as-Samit reported God’s messenger as saying, “If anyone wishes to meet God, God wishes to meet him; but if anyone does not wish to meet God, God does not wish to meet him.”

When Aishah or one of his wives said she did not want to die, he replied, “That is not what I mean; but when death comes to a believer he is given glad tidings of God’s good pleasure and regard, so nothing is dearer to him than what lies before him, and he wishes to meet God and God wishes to meet him. But when an infidel approaches death he is given tidings of God’s punishment and chastisement, so nothing is more objectionable to him than what lies before him, and he does not wish to meet God and God does not wish to meet him.” In Aishah’s version it says that death precedes the meeting with God.

Abu Qatadah used to tell that when a funeral was brought past God’s messenger he said, “He is at rest, or others are at rest from him.” When asked what he meant by these words he replied, “The believing servant is at rest from the toil and harm of the world and departs to God’s mercy, but servants (i.e. mankind), the country, the trees and the animals are at rest from the profligate.”

Abdallah ibn Umar told of God’s messenger taking him by the shoulders and saying, “Be in the world as though you were a stranger or one who is passing through.” Ibn Umar used to say, “In the evening do not expect to see the morning and in the morning do not expect to see the evening, but take something when in health to serve you in time of illness and something in your life to serve you in your death.”

Jabir said he heard God’s messenger say three days before his death, “See that none of you dies without having good expectations from God.”

Muadh ibn Jabal told of God’s messenger saying that if they wished he would tell them the first thing God would say to the believers on the day of resurrection and the first thing they would say to Him.

When his hearers expressed a desire to be told, he said that God would say to the believers, “Did you wish to meet me?” and that they would reply, “Yes, our Lord.” He would ask them why, and they would reply that it was because they hoped for His forgiveness and pardon. He would then say, “My forgiveness has become necessary for you.” transmitted it in Sharh as-sunna and Abu Nuaim in al-Hilya.

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “Keep much in your remembrance the cutter off of delights, i.e., death.”

Ibn Masud told of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) saying to his companions one day, “Show due respect towards God.” On their replying, “Prophet of God, we show due respect towards God, praise be to God,” he said, “That is not what I mean; but he who shows due respect to God must guard the head and what it retains, must guard the belly and what it contains, and keep death and decay in remembrance; and he who desires the next world must abandon the adornment of this world. He who does that has shown due respect towards God.”

Abdallah ibn Amr reported God’s messenger as saying, “The gift to a believer is death.”(i.e. death is the means by which he gains an introduction to the delights of paradise.) Baihaqi transmitted it in Shuab al-iman.

Buraydah reported God’s messenger as saying, “The believer dies with the sweat on his brow.”

‘Ubaidallah b Khalid reported God’s messenger as saying, ‘Sudden death is an act of punishment out of anger.’ Abu Dawud transmitted it. Baihaqi in Shuab al-iman and Razin in his book made an addition, saying ‘An act of punishment out of anger for the infidel and a mercy for the believer.’’

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) visited a young man who was dying and asked him how he was. He replied, “I am hoping in God, messenger of God, but I am afraid of my sins,” whereupon God’s messenger said, “The two cannot come together in a man’s heart at such a time without God giving him what he hopes for and granting him security from what he fears.”

Jabir reported God’s messenger as saying, “Do not wish for death, for the terror of the place whence one looks down in severe. It is part of a man’s happiness that his life should be long and God who is great and glorious should supply him with repentance.”

We sat attentive to God’s messenger who gave us an exhortation and softened our hearts. Then Sad ibn Abu Waqqas wept copiously and said, “Would that I were dead! ‘ God’s messenger said, ‘Do you wish for death in my presence, Sad?’ repeating it three times. He then said, ‘Sad, if you have been created for paradise, it will be better for you if your life is prolonged and your deeds are good.’’”

Haritha ibn Mudarrab said he visited Khabbab who had been cauterised seven times. He said that were it not for the fact that he had heard God’s messenger say that no one must wish for death he would wish for it.

He added, “I have seen myself in the company of God’s messenger when I did not possess a dirham, but now there are 40,000 dirhams in my house.” His shroud was produced, and when he saw it he wept and said, “No shroud was found for Hamza (the Prophet’s uncle. He was killed at Uhud and his remains were treated with indignity by Hind.) but a garment with black and white stripes, which did not reach his feet when put over his head and did not reach his head when put over his feet. It was eventually stretched over his head and grass was put on his feet.”

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:, “Recite to those of you who are dying, ‘There is no god but God. ‘’’”

Umm Salamah reported God’s messenger as saying, “When you are with one who is ill or dying speak good words, for the angels say Amen to what you say.”

She reported God’s messenger as saying, “If any Muslim who suffers some calamity says what God has commanded him, ‘We belong to God and to Him do we return; O God, reward me for my affliction and give me something better than it in exchange for it,’ God will give him something better than it in exchange.”

When Abu Salamah died she said, “What Muslim is better than Abu Salamah whose family was the first to emigrate to God’s messenger? ‘(He and his wife, Umm Salamah, were among those who emigrated to Abyssinia. Abu Salamah died of wounds received at the battle of Uhud, and the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) later married Umm Salamah.) She then said the words, and God gave her God’s messenger in exchange.’”

She said that God’s messenger came in to Abu Salamah when his eyes were fixedly open. Closing them he said, “When the soul is taken the sight follows it.” Some of his family wept and wailed, so he said, “Do not supplicate for yourselves anything but good, for the angels say Amen to what you say.”

He then said, “O God, forgive Abu Salamah, raise his degree among those who are rightly guided, and grant him a succession in his descendants who remain. Forgive both us and him, Lord of the universe, make his grave spacious for him and grant him light in it.”

Aishah said that when God’s messenger died he was covered with a striped Yemen garment. (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Muadh ibn Jabal reported God’s messenger as saying, “If anyone’s last words are ‘There is no god but God,’ he will enter paradise.”

Maqil ibn Yasar reported God’s messenger as saying, “Recite sura. Ya Sin(Qur’an, xxxvi) over your dead.”(This is a literal translation. The meaning is probably those who are on the point of death.)

Aishah said that God’s messenger kissed Uthman ibn Mazun (The first of the Emigrants to die in Medina after returning from Badr) when he was dead, and the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) wept so much that his tears flowed over Uthman’s face. Tirmidhl.

She said that Abu Bakr kissed the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) when he was dead.

When Talha b. al-Bara(He was a youth belonging to Medina who pleased the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) by his desire to do whatever he commanded) was ill the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) came to visit him and said, “I cannot help feeling that Talha’s death is near; so tell me when it occurs and hasten the funeral preparations, for it is not fitting that the corpse of a Muslim should be detained among his family.”

Recite to those of you who die, “There is no god but God, the Clement, the Beneficent; glory be to God the Lord of the mighty throne; praise be to God the Lord of the universe.” On being asked what is appropriate for the living, he replied that these words were better and better.

He reported God’s messenger as saying, “When the soul of a believer comes out, two angels meet it and take it up.” Hammad said he mentioned some of the fragrance of its odour and made mention of musk, and said, “The inhabitants of heaven will say, ‘A good soul has come from the earth. God bless you and a body which you inhabited!’

He will then be taken to his Lord who will tell them to take him away till the end of the appointed time.”(A reference to the day of resurrection. Cf. Qur’an, vi, 2) He said, “When an infidel’s soul comes out (Hammad saying that he mentioned some of its stench and made mention of cursing), the inhabitants of heaven say, ‘A wicked soul has come from the earth,’ and they will be told to take him away till the end of the appointed time.”

Abu Hurayrah said that God’s messenger then put a seamless garment he was wearing over his nose thus(This would be indicated by putting his garment over his nose).

He reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a believer’s death is near the angels of mercy bring a piece of white silk and say, ‘Come out pleased and accepted to God’s rest and provision and to a Lord who is not angry.’ Then the soul comes out with a fragrance like that of the sweetest musk, they pass him from one to another till they bring him to the gates of heaven, and say, ‘How sweet is this fragrance which has come to you from the earth.’

Then they bring him to the souls of the believers, and they are happier over seeing him than any of you are when one who has been away from home comes back. They ask him, ‘How is so and so? How is so and so?’ Then they say, ‘Leave him alone just now, for he has just come from the grief of the world. He replies, ‘He has died. Has he not come to you?’

and they say, ‘He has been taken to his destination, the pit.’(Cf. Qur’an, ci, 9) When an infidel’s death is near the angels of punishment bring him hair-cloth and say, ‘Come out, displeased and subject to displeasure, to the punishment from God who is great and glorious.’ The soul comes out with a stench like the most unpleasant stench of a corpse, they take him to the gate of the earth (The meaning is probably the gate to the lowest heaven) and say, ‘How offensive is this odour!’ They finally bring him to the souls of the infidels.’ Ahmad and Nasai transmitted it.”

Abd ar-Rahman ibn Kab told on his father’s authority that when death came to Kab,(Ibn Majah in Janaiz. 4 gives Kab ibn Malik.) Umm Bishr, daughter of al-Bara ibn Marur visited him and said, “Abu Abd ar-Rahman, if you meet so and so, give him a greeting from me.”

He replied, “God forgive you, Umm Bishr, I shall be too occupied to do that.” She said, “Abu Abd ar-Rahman, have you not heard God’s messenger say that the souls of believers are in green birds which are suspended on and feed on (The Arabic uses taluqu followed by bi. Mirqat explains the meaning in the sense given above) the trees of paradise?”

On his replying that he had, she said that that was what she meant. Ibn Majah and BaihaqI, in Kitab ul-bath wannushur, transmitted it.

He quoted his father to the effect that he used to tell that God’s messenger said, “The spirit of a believer is only a bird which feeds on (Here the Arabic is taluqu fi. Mirqat quotes Suyuti who explains it as in the translation above. The verb can have either the sense of being attached to something or of eating) the trees of paradise till God restores him to his body on the day He resurrects it.” Malik, Nasai and Baihaqi, in Kitab al-bath wan-nushur, transmitted it.

Muhammad b. al-Munkadir told that he visited Jabir ibn Abdallah when he was dying and said, “Give a greeting to God’s messenger.”

God’s messenger came in where we were when we were washing his daughter and said, “Wash her with water and lotus leaves three or five times, or more than that if you think fit, and put camphor, or some camphor, in the last washing, then inform me when you are finished.” When we had finished we informed him, and he threw us his lower garment saying, “Put it next her body.”

A version has, “Wash her an odd number of times, three, or five, or seven, beginning with the right side and the places where ablution is performed.” She said that they braided her hair in three plaits and placed them behind her back. (Bukharl and Muslim.)

To have been cither the place where the cloth was woven, or the place from which it was exported), among which was neither a shirt nor a turban. (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Jabir reported God’s messenger as saying, “When one of you shrouds his brother he should use a shroud of good quality.”

at Thy service; praise and grace are Thine, and the dominion; Thou hast no partner. See Book XI, chap. ii) (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Ibn Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying, “Wear your white garments, for they are among your best garments, and shroud your dead in them. Among the best types of collyrium you use is antimony (ithmid) for it makes the hair sprout and clears the vision.” Abu Da wad and Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Ibn Majah transmitted up to “shroud your dead in them.”

‘All reported God’s messenger as saying ‘Do not be extravagant in shrouding, for it will quickly be decayed.’’

When Abu Said al-Khudri was about to die he called for new clothes and put them on, then said he had heard God’s messenger say, “The dead will be resurrected in the clothes in which he died.”

Ubada b. as-Samit reported God’s messenger as saying, “The best shroud is a lower garment and one which covers the whole body, (The Arabic has al-kulla, which means the two garments known as the izar (lower garment) and rida (a cloak which covers the whole body)) and the best sacrifice is a horned ram.”

Ibn Abbas said God’s messenger commanded that those killed at Uhud should be stripped of iron and skins and buried in their clothing without having the blood washed off.

Sad ibn Ibrahim told on his father’s authority that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Auf was brought food when he was fasting and said, “Musab ibn Umair who was better than I am was killed and was shrouded in a cloak added that he thought he said ‘And Hamza who was better than I am was killed.’) Then we were given such great worldly wealth as we have been given (or, We have been given such worldly goods as we have been given), and I am afraid that my good things have been given me in advance.” He then began to weep and left the food untouched.

God’s messenger came to Abdallah ibn Ubayy after he had been placed in his grave and ordered him to be taken out. He then placed him on his knees, blew some of his saliva into him, and clothed him with his shirt. He said that he had clothed Abbas with a shirt. (i.e. Jabir said the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had clothed Abbas with a shirt)

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “Walk quickly at a funeral, for if the dead person was good it is a good condition to which you are sending him on, but if he was otherwise it is an evil of which you are ridding yourselves.”

Abu Said reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a corpse is placed on a bier and men carry it on their shoulders, if it was a good man it says, ‘Take me quickly’; but if it was not good it says to its bearers, ‘Woe to it, where are you taking it?’ Everything but mankind hears its voice, and were a human being to hear it he would faint.”

He reported God’s messenger as saying, “When you see a funeral stand up; but anyone who follows it must not sit down till the bier is placed on the ground.”

When a funeral passed by God’s messenger stood up and they stood up along with him. They told him it was a Jewish funeral and he replied, “Death is a fearful event, so when you see a funeral stand up.”

Ali said, “We saw God’s messenger stand up so we stood up; he then sat down and we sat down,” the reference being to a funeral. Muslim transmitted it. The version of Malik and Abu Dawud says, “He stood up for a funeral, then sat down afterwards.”(There is some doubt as to whether this means that he sat down after the funeral had passed, or whether the point is that the Prophet’s practice had been to stand up but that he later stopped doing so. Cf. the tradition from Ali on p. 353)

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “If anyone attends the funeral of a Muslim out of faith and seeking a reward from God, and stays till prayer is offered and the burial is complete, he will return with a reward of two qirats, each qirat being equivalent to Uhud (The qirat is a small weight, a twentieth, or twenty-fourth of a dinar. Here it is used somewhat figuratively. The statement that it is equivalent to the hill Uhud is a way of expressing that the reward will be very great); and if anyone prays over the dead and returns before the burial, he will come back with one qirat.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

He said the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) gave the people news of the death of the Negus on the day on which he died, took them out to the place of prayer, drew them up in rows and said “God is most great” four times.

Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abu Laila said that Zayd ibn Arqam used to say “God is most great” four times over their dead at funerals, but once he said it five times. On being questioned about it he replied that God’s messenger used to do so.

Talha ibn Abdallah ibn Auf said he prayed behind Ibn Abbas at a funeral and he recited Fatihat al-Kltab (Qur’an, sura i). He then said that it was to let them know it was a sunna.

God’s messenger prayed at a funeral and I have retained in my memory some of his supplication. He was saying, “O God, forgive him, show him mercy, grant him security, pardon him, grant him a noble provision and a spacious lodging, wash him with water, snow and ice, purify him from sins as Thou hast purified the white garment from filth, give him a better abode in place of his present one, a better family in place of his present one, and a better spouse in place of his present one, cause him to enter paradise and preserve him from the trial in the grave and the punishment in hell.”

A version has “And guard him from the trial in the grave and the punishment in hell.” He added that the result was that he wished he had been that dead man.

Abu Salamah ibn Abd ar-Rahman told how, when Sad ibn Abu Waqqas died, Aishah said, “Take him into the mosque so that I may pray over him.” When objection was made to this she said, “I swear by God that God’s messenger prayed in the mosque over Suhail and his brother, the sons of Baida.”

“I prayed behind God’s messenger over a woman who had died in childbirth, and he stood opposite her waist.” (Bukhar! and Muslim.)

God’s messenger came upon a grave where an interment had taken place at night and asked when this person had been buried. On being told that he had been buried the previous night, he asked why they had not informed him. They told him that they had conducted the burial in the darkness of night and had not liked to waken him, whereupon he stood up, and when they formed a row behind him he prayed over the dead. (Bukharl and Muslim.)

A negress (or a youth) used to sweep the mosque. God’s messenger missed her, and when he asked about her (or him) the people told him he had died. He asked why they had not informed him, and it appeared as if they had treated her (or him) as of little account.

He asked the people to lead him to the grave, and when they did so he prayed over her (The wording of this tradition causes some difficulty owing to the indefiniteness as to whether the person was a man or a woman. Sometimes the alternative is mentioned, as in the translation, but sometimes merely the masculine singular pronoun and at others merely the feminine singular pronoun is used) and then said, “These graves are full of darkness for their occupants, but God will illuminate them for them by reason of my prayer over them.”

Kuraib the client of Ibn Abbas told that a son of Abdallah Ibn Abbas died in Qudaid or Usfan and he asked him to go out and see how many people had gathered for the funeral. Going out and finding that people had gathered for the funeral, he told him.

Ibn Abbas asked him if he thought there would be forty present, and when he replied that that was so, he gave orders for the body to be brought out, adding that he had heard God’s messenger say, “If any Muslim man dies and forty men who associate nothing with God stand over his bier, God will accept them as intercessors for him.”

Aishah reported the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) as saying, “If a company of Muslims to the number of a hundred pray over a dead person, all of them interceding for him, their intercession for him will be accepted.”

Anas told that when some people passed a dead body on a bier and spoke highly of the dead man the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “It is certain.” When they passed another and spoke very badly of the dead man he said, “It is certain.”

Umar asked what was certain, and he replied, “You spoke highly of this one, so paradise is certain for him; but you spoke very badly of that one, so hell is certain for him. You are God’s witnesses in the earth.” (Bukhari and Muslim.) A version has “The believers are God’s witnesses in the earth.”

Umar reported God’s messenger as saying, “If four people give a good testimony about any Muslim, God will cause him to enter paradise.” Umar said they asked whether this would apply if three testified, and he said it would. They further asked if it would apply if two testified, and he said it would; but they did not ask him about one.

Aishah reported God’s messenger as saying, “Do not revile the dead, for they have come to what they have sent before them.”

Jabir said God’s messenger had each pair of those killed at Uhud wrapped in a single garment and asked which of them knew more of the Qur’an. When one of them was pointed out to him, he had him put first in the side of the grave, and he said, “I shall be a witness to these men on the day of resurrection.” He ordered that they should be buried without the marks of blood being removed; he did not pray over them, and they were not washed.

Jabir ibn Samurah said the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was brought an unsaddled horse which he rode when he went away after the funeral of Ibn ad-Dahdah, and they went on foot around him.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:, “A rider should go behind the bier, and those on foot should walk behind it, in front of it, on its right and on its left keeping near it.

Prayer should be said over an abortion and forgiveness and mercy supplicated for its parents.” Abu Dawud transmitted it. In the version of Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Nasai and Ibn Majah he said, “The rider should go behind the bier and those on foot wherever they wish round about it, and prayer should be said over an infant.” In al-Masabih it is given on the authority of al-Mughira ibn Ziyad.

Salim reported his father as saying, “I saw God’s messenger, Abu Bakr and Umar walking in front of the bier.”

Abdallah ibn Masud reported God’s messenger as saying, “The bier should be followed and should not follow. Those who go in front of it are not accompanying it.” Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it. Tirmidhi said that Abu Majid the transmitter is unknown.

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “He who follows a bier and carries it three times has accomplished what is ‘due to it from him.’ Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying that this is a gharib tradition. In Sharh as-sunna it is reported that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) carried the bier of Sad ibn Muadh between the two poles.”

Thauban told how when they went out with the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to a funeral he saw some people riding and said, “Are you not ashamed? God’s angels are on their feet, while you are on the backs of animals.” Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Abu Dawud transmitted something similar. Tirmidhi said it has been transmitted from Thauban in mauquf form.

Ibn Abbas said the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) recited Fatihat al-Kitab at funerals.

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “When you pray over the dead, make a sincere supplication for him.”

He reported that when God’s messenger prayed over a bier he said, “O God, forgive those of us who are living and those of us who are dead, those of us who are present and those of us who are absent, our young and our old, our male and our female. O God, to whomsoever of us Thou givest life keep him faithful to Islam whilst Thou givest him life, and whomsoever of us Thou takest in death take him as a believer.

O God, do not withhold from us the reward of faith (the Arabic is variously explained either as translated above, or as the reward of the man who has died, or of the believer. The text is ajrahu which means ‘his reward’, or ‘its reward.’ Cf. Mir gat, ii, 365.), or try us after his death.” Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Nasai transmitted it from Abu Ibrahim al-Ashhali who quoted his father’s authority, his version ending at “female”. Abu Dawud’s version has, “Grant him life as a believer and take him in death as a follower of Islam.” It ends, “Do not lead us astray after his death.”

Wathila b. al-Asqa said God’s messenger led them in prayer over a Muslim and he heard him say, “O God, so and so son of so and so is in Thy protection and in Thy nearer presence, so guard him from the trial in the grave and the punishment in hell. Thou art faithful and true. O God, forgive him and show him mercy. Thou art the forgiving and the merciful One.”

Ibn Umar reported God’s messenger as saying, “Mention the good qualities of your dead and refrain from mentioning their bad ones.”

Nafi Abu Ghalib said he prayed along with Anas ibn Malik at a man’s funeral and he stood opposite his head. Then some people brought along the bier of a woman of Quraish and said, “Abu Hamza (The kunya of Anas ibn Malik, the Prophet’s servant), pray over her,” and he stood opposite the middle of the bier.

Al-Ala ibn Ziyad said to him, “Thus did I see God’s messenger do. He stood over the bier in the same position as you did in relation to her and in the same position as you did in relation to the man.”

He replied, “That is so.” Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it. In Abu Dawud’s version there is something similar, along with an addition containing the words “He stood at the woman’s buttocks.”

Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abu Laila said that Sahl ibn Hunayf and Qais ibn Sad were sitting at al-QadisIya when a bier was brought past them. They stood up, and when they were told that it was one of the people of the land, i.e. of the dhimmis(Protected communities such as Jews and Christians), they replied that a bier came past God’s messenger and he stood up. On being told that it contained a Jew he said, “Is it not a soul?”

Ubada b. as-Samit said that when God’s messenger followed a bier he did not sit down till the corpse was placed in the side of the grave. On being accosted by a learned Jew and told that that was how they did, God’s messenger sat down and said, “Act differently from them.” Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying that this is a gharib tradition and that Bishr ibn Rafi the transmitter was not strong.

Ali said that God’s messenger had told them to stand at a funeral, but later he sat and ordered them to sit.

When a bier came past al-Hasan ibn ‘All and Ibn Abbas al-Hasan stood up but Ibn Abbas did not, so al- Hasan said, ‘Did God’s messenger not stand up out of respect for the bier of a Jew?’ He replied, ‘Yes, but thereafter he sat.’ Nasai transmitted it.’

Jafar ibn Muhammad told on his father’s authority that when al- Hasan ibn ‘All was sitting a bier was brought past him and the people stood up till the bier had gone by. Al-Hasan then said, ‘A bier carrying a Jew was brought past when God’s messenger was sitting in its path, and just because he did not like having a Jew’s bier higher than his head he stood up.’ Nasai transmitted it.’

Abu Musa reported God’s messenger as saying, “When the bier of a Jew, a Christian, or a Muslim passes you, stand up for it. You are not standing for its sake, but for the angels who are accompanying it.”

When a bier came past God’s messenger and he stood up he was told that it was carrying a Jew. He replied, “I stood up simply out of respect for the angels.” Nasai transmitted it.

Malik ibn Hubaira said he heard God’s messenger say, “If any Muslim dies and three rows of Muslims pray over him it will assure him.” When Malik considered those who accompanied a bier to be few, he divided them into three rows in accordance with this tradition. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

In Tirmidhi’s version he said that when Malik ibn Hubaira prayed over a bier and found few people present, he divided them into three sections, then said that God’s messenger had stated, “If three rows pray over anyone it will assure him.” Ibn Majah transmitted something similar.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: in the course of prayer over a dead body, “O God, Thou art its Lord, Thou didst create it, Thou didst guide it to Islam, Thou hast taken its spirit, and Thou knowest best its inner nature and outer aspect. We have come as intercessors, so forgive him.”

Said b. al-Musayyib said he prayed behind Abu Hurayrah at the funeral of a boy who had never sinned and heard him say, “O God, protect him from the punishment in the grave.”

Bukhari said without a complete isnad that al-Hasan (i.e. al-Hasan al-Basri (21-110. A.H)) recited Fatihat al-Kitab over an infant and said, “O God, make him for us a righteous deed which has gone before us, a recompense gone ahead, a treasure and a reward.”

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:, “Prayer should not be said over an infant which has not uttered a sound, neither may he inherit nor leave an inheritance.”

Abu Masud al-Ansari said God’s messenger forbade that the imam should stand on anything when the people were behind him, meaning on a lower level than he was. Daraqutnl transmitted it in al-Mujtaba in Kitab al-janaiz.

Amir ibn Sad ibn Abu Waqqas told that Sad ibn Abu Waqqas said during his illness of which he died, “Make a niche for me in the side of the grave, and set up bricks over me as was done with God’s messenger.”

A piece of red stuff was put in God’s messenger’s grave.

Sufyan at-Tammar said he saw the grave of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) humped.

Abul Hayyaj al-Asadi told that Ali said to him, “I am sending you on the same mission as God’s messenger sent me. Do not leave an image without obliterating it, or a high grave without levelling it.”

Jabir said God’s messenger forbade that graves should be plastered with gypsum, that any erection should be built over them, and that people should sit on them.

Abu Marthad al-Ghanawi reported God’s messenger as saying, “Do not sit on graves, and do not pray facing them.”

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “It is better that one of you should sit on live coals which burn his clothing and come in contact with his skin than that he should sit on a grave.”

Urwa b. Az-Zubayr said there were two men in Medina, one of whom made a niche when digging a grave, the other of whom did not. The people said that the one who came first should do as he was accustomed to do, and the one who made a niche came and made one for God’s messenger. transmitted it in Sharh as-sunna.

Ibn Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying, “The niche in the side of the grave is for us and the excavation in the middle is for others.” Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasai and Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Ahmad transmitted it from Jarir ibn Abdallah.

Hisham ibn Amir told that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said on the day of Uhud, “Dig graves, make them wide, deep and beautiful, bury two or three together in a single grave, and put first the one who knew most of the Qur’an.”

On the day of Uhud my paternal aunt brought my father to bury him in our cemetery, but God’s messenger’s crier called out, “Take back the dead to the place where they fell.”

Ibn Abbas said God’s messenger was lowered gently into the grave head first. Shafii transmitted it.

He told that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) entered a grave during the night, and when a lamp was lit for him he faced the qibla and said, “God have mercy on you if you were devoted to supplication with tears (The Arabic is awwah which cannot easily be translated by one word. It is variously explained as meaning one much given to sighing through fear of God, one much given to supplication from love of God, one much given to weeping from fefir, or one much given to prayer asking for God’s mercy. Cf. Mirqat, ii, 376) and to the recitation of the Qur’an.”

Ibn Umar told that when the dead was placed in the grave the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “In the name of God, by God’s grace, and following the religion of God’s messenger.” A version has “And following the sunna of God’s messenger.”

Jafar ibn Muhammad told in mursal form on his father’s authority that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) cast three handfuls of earth on the dead with both hands, that he sprinkled water on his son Ibrahim’s grave, and that he put small pebbles on it. It is transmitted in Sharh as-sunna, and Shafii transmitted from “he sprinkled”.

Jabir said God’s messenger forbade that graves should be plastered with gypsum, have any writing on them, or be trodden on.

He said that the Prophet’s grave was sprinkled and that the one who sprinkled the water over his grave from a water-skin was Bilal ibn Rabah. He began where the head was and sprinkled it to his feet. Baihaqi transmitted it in Dalail an-nubuwa.

When Uthman ibn Mazun died, was brought out on his bier and buried, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) ordered a man to bring him a stone, but he was unable to carry it; so God’s messenger got up and, going over to it, rolled up his sleeves.

Al-Muttalib remarked that the one who told him about God’s messenger said, “I still seem to see the whiteness of the forearms of God’s messenger when he rolled up his sleeves.” He then carried it and placed it at his head saying, “I am marking my brother’s grave with it, and I shall bury beside him those of my family who die.”

Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad told of his going to visit Aishah and saying, “Mother, show me the grave of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and his two companions.” She showed him three graves which were neither high nor low, but were spread over with soft red pebbles in an open space.

“We went out with God’s messenger to the funeral of a man of the Ansar, but when we reached the grave the niche in the side had not yet been made, so the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) sat down facing the qibla and we sat down along with him.” Abu Dawud, Nasai and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Ibn Majah adding “quietly”. (Literally, as though the birds were over our heads. An explanation of the phrase is that when a bird alights on a camel’s head and begins to pick the ticks off it, the camel stands perfectly still so as not to frighten it away.)

Aishah reported God’s messenger as saying, “Breaking a dead man’s bone is like breaking it when he is alive.”

I was present when the daughter of God’s messenger was being buried. He was sitting beside the grave and I saw his eyes shedding tears. He then asked, “Is there any of you who did not have sexual intercourse last night?” Abu Talha replied that he had not, so he told him to go down into her grave, and he did so.

Amr b. al-‘As said to his son when he was in the throes of death, ‘When I die let no wailing woman or fire accompany me, and when you bury me scatter earth lightly over me, then stand round my grave as long as it takes to sacrifice an animal and have its flesh distributed, so that I may feel you near and know what to answer my Lord’s messengers.’(i.e. Munkar and Naklr who examine the dead in the grave)’

Abdallah ibn Umar said he heard the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) say, “When one of you dies do not keep him long, but take him quickly to his grave, and have the opening verses of sura al-Baqara recited at his head and the concluding verses of the same sura at his feet.” Baihaqi transmitted it in Shuab al-iman, saying the correct view is that it does not go farther back than him.

We were like the companions of Jadhima (Jadhima was a legendary pre-Islamic king with his centre in al-Anbar. He had two boon- companions, Aqil and Malik, who are said to have been together for forty years. The verses are from a lament by Mutammim ibn Nuwaira al-Yarbui over his brother Malik) for a long time, so that people said the two will never be separated. But when we separated it seemed, in spite of long association, as if Malik and I had not spent a single night together. She then said, “I swear by God that if I had been present with you, you would have been buried nowhere but where you died, and if I had been with you I would not have visited you.”

Abu Rafi said that God’s messenger lowered Sad and sprinkled water over his grave.

God’s messenger prayed over a bier, then went to the grave and threw three handfuls of earth towards the head of the dead man.

Amr ibn Hazm told how, when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) saw him leaning on a grave, he said, “Do not molest the occupant of this grave”; or, “Do not molest it.”

To him, “You too, messenger of God?” He replied, “Ibn Auf, it is compassion,” then shed more tears and said, “The eye weeps and the heart grieves, but we say only what our Lord is pleased with, and we are grieved over being separated from you, Ibrahim.”

Usamah ibn Zayd said the Prophet’s daughter sent him a message telling him that a son of hers was dying and asking him to come to them. He sent her a greeting, saying at the same time, “What God has taken belongs to Him, what He has given belongs to Him, and He has an appointed time for everyone, so let her show endurance and seek her reward from God.”

She then sent adjuring him to come to her, and he got up to go accompanied by Sad ibn Ubada, Muadh ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Kab, Zayd ibn Thabit and some other men. The boy who was on the point of death (This is an attempt to express the meaning of the Arabic which says literally ‘his soul was disquieted) was lifted up to God’s messenger whose eyes overflowed with tears.

Sad said, ‘What is this, messenger of God?’ He replied, ‘This is compassion which God has placed in the hearts of His servants. God shows compassion only to those of His servants who are compassionate.’’

Abdallah ibn Umar said that when Sad ibn Ubada complained of a trouble, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) came to visit him accompanied by Abd ar-Rahman ibn Auf, Sad ibn Abu Waqqas and Abdallah ibn Masud. On entering and finding him in a bad way (Or, in a faint) he suggested that his end was near, but was assured that that was not so.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) wept, and when the people saw him weeping they wept also. He then said, “Listen; God does not punish for the tears the eye sheds or the grief the heart experiences, but He punishes for this (pointing to his tongue), or He shows compassion; and the dead is punished because of his family’s weeping for him.”(Cf. the second tradition in section III where Aishah says Ibn Umar has forgotten or made a mistake. This has given rise to much discussion and efforts have been made to show that the tradition of Ibn Umar refers particularly to excessive weeping and wailing, or to the desire of pre-Islamic Arabs that people should lament them to an excessive extent when they died.

The reference to the tongue indicates loud lamentation in contrast to silent weeping) (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Abdallah ibn Masud reported God’s messenger as saying, “He who beats the cheeks, tears the front of the garments, and cries out as people did in pre-Islamic times, does not belong to us.”

Abu Musa al-Ashari fainted and his wife Umm Abdallah began to shout with a piercing cry. He then came round, and asking her if she was quite ignorant, he told her that God’s messenger had said, “I have no connection with one who shaves, shouts and tears his clothing.” (Bukharl and Muslim, the wording being Muslim’s.)

boasting of high rank, reviling other people’s genealogies, seeking rain by the stars, and wailing. And he said, “If the wailing-woman does not repent before she dies, she will be made to stand on the day of resurrection wearing a garment of pitch and a chemise of mange.”

Anas told that when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) came upon a woman weeping at a grave he said, “Fear God and show endurance.” She, not recognising him, replied, “Go away, for you have not been afflicted as I have.” She was told that he was the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), so she went to his door, and finding no doorkeepers there she said, “I did not recognise you.” He replied, “Endurance is shown only at the first blow.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “No Muslim will suffer the death of three sons and go to hell, except to expiate the oath.”(Cf. Qur’an, xix, 71, which says everyone shall go down to it, and that this is a decree from God which must be accomplished. The meaning of the tradition is said to be that such people will go for a very brief time which will be enough to make this decree no longer applicable to them. The decree is treated as equivalent to an oath) (Bukharl and Muslim.)

He reported God’s messenger as saying to some women of the Ansar, “None of you will lose three children by death and seek a reward from God without entering paradise.” One of them asked, “Or two, messenger of God?” He replied, “Or two.” Muslim transmitted it. Bukharl and Muslim have a version which says, “three who were not old enough to sin.”

He reported God’s messenger as declaring that God says, “When I take away from my believing servant his favourite friend among the people of this world and he seeks his reward from me, he will have no other reward from me but paradise.”

God’s messenger cursed the wailing-woman and the woman who listens to her.

Sad ibn Abu Waqqas reported God’s messenger as saying, “It is a fine thing when a believer praises and thanks God if good comes to him, and praises God and shows endurance if smitten by affliction. ‘ The believer is rewarded for everything, even for the morsel he raises to his wife’s mouth.’(The idea of the tradition is that by virtue of his faith the believer receives a reward for all his actions, none being too insignificant) Baihaqi transmitted it in Shuab al-iman.”

Anas reported God’s messenger as saying, “Every believer has two gates, one by which deeds ascend and one by which his provision comes down, and when he dies they weep for him.” That agrees with God’s words, “Neither the heaven nor the earth wept for them.”(Qur’an xliv, 29)

Ibn Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying, “If any member of my people has two children who die before him, God will cause him to enter paradise on their account.”

Aishah asked, “Does it apply to a member of your people who has one child who dies before him?” He replied, “It does, you who have been helped by God to ask this.” She then asked, “What about a member of your people who has no children who die before him?”

He replied, “I am the one who dies before my people, and they will never suffer any loss to compare with the loss of me.”

When a man’s child dies God most high asks His angels whether they have taken His servant’s child and they reply that they have. He then asks whether they have taken the fruit of his heart (This is said by some to mean either children or grandchildren, and a basis for that meaning is found in Qur’an, ii, 155, where the plural ath-thamarat is interpreted that way), and when they reply that they have, He asks what His servant said.

On their replying that he praised God and said, “We belong to God and to Him do we return,” God says, “Build a house in paradise for my servant and call it the house of praise.”

Abdallah ibn Masud reported God’s messenger as saying, “If anyone comforts one who has been afflicted he will have a reward equivalent to his.” Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is a gharib tradition which was known to him as traced back to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) only among the traditions of Ali ibn Asim the transmitter. He added that some transmitted it with this isnad from Muhammad ibn Suqa in mauquf form.

Abu Barza reported God’s messenger as saying, “He who comforts a bereaved woman will be clothed with a striped garment in paradise.”

Abdallah ibn Jafar told that when the news of Jafar’s death came the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Prepare food for Jafar’s family, for they have heard something which takes up their whole attention.”

Al-Mughirah ibn Shubah said he heard God’s messenger say, “If people wail for anyone he will be punished for it on the day of resurrection.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Amra daughter of Abd ar-Rahman said that when Aishah was told that Abdallah ibn Umar said the dead was punished because of the weeping of the living for him, she heard her say, “God forgive Abu Abd ar-Rahman! He has not lied, but he has forgotten, or has made a mistake. What happened was just that God’s messenger came upon some people weeping for a Jewess and said, ‘They are weeping for her, and she is being punished in her grave.’ ‘ (Bukharl and Muslim.)’”

Aishah said that when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was told that Ibn Haritha, Jafar and Ibn Rawaha (They were Zaid ibn Haritha, Jafar Abu Talib, and Abdallah ibn Rawaha who were killed at Muta in 7 A.H) had been killed, he sat down showing signs of grief, while she was looking at him through the sair, i.e. the slit, of the door.

A man came to him and mentioned that Jafar’s women were weeping, and on being told to tell them to stop he went away. He came a second time saying they had not obeyed him, and he told him to tell them to stop.

When he came a third time and said he could make no impression on them, God’s messenger, so Aishah asserted, said, “Throw dust in their mouths.” Thereupon she said, “God humble you! You did not do what God’s messenger ordered you, nor did you stop annoying God’s messenger.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Umm Salamah told that when Abu Salamah died she said he had been a stranger in a strange land and that she would weep for him in a manner which would be talked of. She had made preparations for weeping and a woman who meant to assist her was on her way when she was met by God’s messenger who said, “Do you intend to bring the devil into a house from which God has twice driven him out?”(Abu Salamah had emigrated both to Abyssinia and to Medina and this may be the reference here; or it may be explained as meaning that the devil was driven out first when he accepted Islam and secondly when he died as a Muslim) Umm Salamah therefore refrained from weeping and did not weep.

When Abdallah ibn Rawaha fainted his sister Amra began to weep and shout, “Alas for the mountain! (The word which basically means a mountain is also used for a chief. In the next tradition from Abu Musa two expressions are used, one being the same as here and the other using a normal word for a chief. I have therefore kept the flavour of the original by retaining the word mountain) Alas for such and such!

Alas for such and such!” eulogising him. When he came round he said, “I was asked about everything you said whether I am like that.” A version has the addition that when he died she did not weep for him. Bukhari tranmitted it.

Abu Musa said he heard God’s messenger say, “If anyone dies and the mourner gets up and says, ‘Alas for the mountain! Alas for the chief!’ and such like, God will put two angels in charge of him who will beat him on the breast and ask him whether he was like that.”

A member of the family of God’s messenger died and that the women gathered and wept for him. Umar then arose and forbade and repulsed them, but God’s messenger said, “Let them alone, Umar, for the eye is tearful, the heart is afflicted, and the matter has happened recently.” Ahmad and Nasai transmitted it.

When God’s messenger’s daughter Zainab died and the women wept, Umar began to strike them with his whip, but God’s messenger pushed him back saying, “Gently, Umar” He then said, “Beware of the devil’s clamour,” and added, “Whatever comes from the eye and from the heart is from God who is great and glorious and pertains to compassion, but what comes from the hand and from the tongue is of the devil.”

Bukhari said without a full isnad that when Al-Hasan ibn Ali died, his wife put a tent over his grave for a year; then when she removed it she heard one shouting and saying, “Have they found what they lost?” and another replied, “No, they have given up hope and gone away.”

Imran ibn Husayn and Abu Barza said that when they went out with God’s messenger to a funeral he saw some people who had removed their cloaks and were walking in shirts, and said, “Do you adhere to the practice of pre-Islamic times?” or, “Do you copy what was done in pre-Islamic times? I feel inclined to invoke a curse on you that you should return metamorphosed.” Then they took their cloaks and did not do that again.

Ibn Umar said God’s messenger forbade the following of a bier which was accompanied by a woman wailing shrilly.

A man who told him a son of his had died and that he was grieved asked him if he had heard anything from his friend which would comfort them regarding their dead. He replied that he had, for he had heard him say, “Their young ones roam freely in paradise. One of them meets his father, seizes the end of his garment and does not leave him until he brings him into paradise.”

Abu Said told a woman coming to God’s messenger and saying, “Messenger of God, the men have a monopoly of what you say, so appoint us a day on which we may come to you to teach us some of what God has taught you.”

He told them to gather on such and such a day in such and such a place, and when they did so he came to them and taught them some of what God had taught him. Then he said, “No woman among you will be predeceased by three of her children without that being a curtain from hell for her.”

One of the women asked whether that applied if there were two, repeating the question twice, and he replied, “Two also, two also, two also.” Bukharl transmitted it.

Muadh ibn Jabal reported God’s messenger as saying, “No pair of Muslims will lose three by death without God bringing them into paradise by His great mercy.” He was asked if that applied if they lost two, and said it did.

He was also asked if it applied if they lost one, and said it did. Then he said, “By Him in whose hand my soul is, the abortion draws his mother to paradise by his umbilical cord when she seeks her reward for him from God.” Ahmad transmitted it, and Ibn Majah transmitted from “By Him in whose hand my soul is.”

Abdallah ibn Masud reported God’s messenger as saying, “If anyone is predeceased by three of his children who did not grow old enough to sin, they will be a strong protection for him from hell.” When Abu Dharr said he had been predeceased by two, he told him that the same applied. Ubayy ibn Kab Abu Mundhir, the chief of the Qur’an readers, said he had been predeceased by one, and he told him the same applied.

Ali reported God’s messenger as saying, “The abortion will dispute with his Lord when He causes his parents to enter hell, and will receive the reply, ‘You abortion who are disputing with your Lord, bring your parents into paradise.’ He will then draw them with his umbilical cord till he brings them into paradise.”

Abu Umama reported the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) as stating that God who is blessed and exalted says, “Son of Adam, if you show endurance and seek your reward from me in the first affliction, I shall be pleased with no lesser reward than paradise for you.”

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:, “If any Muslim man or woman suffers a calamity and keeps it in his memory, even if it happened a long time ago, saying each time it is remembered, ‘We belong to God and to Him do we return,’ God who is blessed and exalted will give a fresh reward each time it is said, equivalent to the reward when it happened.” Ahmad and Baihaqi, in Shuab al-lman, transmitted it.

Abu Hurayrah reported God’s messenger as saying, “When the thong of someone’s sandal breaks he should say, ‘We belong to God and to Him do we return,’ for it is one of the calamities.”

Umm ad-Darda said she heard Abud Darda say he heard Abul Qasim (i.e the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)) say that God who is blessed and exalted said, “I am sending after your time, Jesus, a people who will praise God when what they like happens to them, and seek their reward from God and show endurance when what they dislike afflicts them, though they do not possess forbearance and intelligence.”

He asked, “My Lord, how can this be when they do not possess forbearance or intelligence?” God replied, “I shall give them some of my forbearance and my knowledge.” Baihaqi transmitted the two traditions in Shuab al-lman.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:, “I forbade you to visit graves, but you may now visit them; I forbade you to eat the flesh of sacrificial animals after three days, but you may now keep it as long as you feel inclined; and I forbade you nabidh except in a water-skin, so you may drink it from all kinds of water-skins, but you must not drink anything intoxicating.”

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) visited his mother’s grave and wept and caused those around him to weep. He then said, “I asked my Lord’s permission to pray for forgiveness for her, but I was not allowed; I then asked His permission to visit her grave and I was allowed; so visit graves, for they make one mindful of death.”

God’s messenger used to teach them to say when they went out to the cemeteries, “Peace be upon you, inhabitants of the dwellings who are of the number of the believers and the Muslims. If God will, we shall join you. We ask God to grant us and you wellbeing.”

When God’s messenger passed by some graves in Medina he turned his face towards them and said, “Peace be upon you, inhabitants of the graves. God forgive us and you. You have gone before us and we are coming after.”

Aishah said that whenever it was her turn for God’s messenger to spend the night with her he would go out towards the end of the night to al-Baqi and say, “Peace be upon you, household of a people who are believers. What you were being promised will come to you tomorrow, you receiving it after some delay, and if God will we shall join you.

O God, grant forgiveness to the inhabitants of Baqi al- Gharqad.” (This is the full name of the cemetery at Medina. Baqi properly means a place with tree roots, and gharqad is the name of a thorny type of tree. The name was retained even when all signs of trees were removed.)

She said she asked God’s messenger what she should say, i.e. when visiting graves, and he told her to say, “Peace be upon the inhabitants of the abodes, believers and Muslims, and God show mercy to those of us who go before and those who go later. If God will we shall join you.”

Muhammad b. an-Numan who traced the tradition back to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) reported him as saying, “If anyone visits the grave of his parents, or of one of them, every Friday he will be granted forgiveness and it will be recorded as filial piety.” Baihaqi transmitted it in mursal form in Shuab al-iman.

Ibn Masud reported God’s messenger as saying, “I forbade you to visit graves, but you may now visit them, for they produce abstinence in this world and act as a reminder of the next.”

Abu Hurayrah said God’s messenger cursed women who visited graves. Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is a hasan sahih tradition. He added that some learned men consider this was before the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) gave licence to visit graves, and when he gave it both men and women were included.

But some hold that he disapproved of women visiting graves because of the small amount of self-control they possess and their tendency to be greatly upset. The quotation from him ends here.

I used to enter my house in which God’s messenger was and put off my garment, saying that only my husband and my father were there; but when Umar was buried along with them, I swear by God that I did not enter it without having my clothes wrapped round me owing to modesty regarding Umar (The tradition refers to the time after the death of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and Abu Bakr who were buried in Aishah’s house. When Umar died he was buried beside them.

As Aishah was not related to him she felt she must observe the usual conventions regarding men who were not near relatives, even although Umar was dead, for it evidently seemed to her as if he were really in the house.)