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By Athiya Maulvi
"Wherever ye are, death will find you out, even if ye are in towers built up strong and high!"
(Al Nisa 4:78, Abdullah Yousuf Ali Translation)
"Then He causeth him to die, and putteth him in his grave" (Abasa 80:21, A.Y.A. Trans.)
The Prophet (S) said The rights of a Muslim on Muslim are five: To return the greeting, To visit the sick, To follow the funeral processions, To accept invitation and To reply the sneezer (Bukhari Vol. 2 – 332)
When a Muslim is born, the Adhan and Iqama are said in his ear. The prayer to that Adhan and Iqama are held after his death, i.e. the funeral prayer.
We will now take a look at what is to be done before, at and after death.
1. THE SICK THE DYING
2. WASHING AND SHROUDING THE DEAD
3. THE BIER AND FUNERAL PRAYER
4. THE GRAVE
5. MOURNING
6. THE MARTYRS
7. SUICIDE
And also - Euthanasia
1. THE SICK THE DYING
Make a will (Al Baqarah 2:180, A.Y.A. Trans.):
"It is prescribed, when death approaches any of you, if he leave any goods, that he make a bequest to parents and next of kin…"
Dua during calamity:
The Prophet (S) said If any servant (of Allah) who suffers a calamity says ,"We belong to Allah and to Him shall we return; O Allah, reward me for my affliction and give me something better than it in exchange for it", Allah will give him reward for affliction, and would give him something better than it in exchange. (Muslim 2000)
The Prophet (S) 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. (Bukhari & Muslim)
Visiting the sick:
The Prophet (S) said If anyone visits a patient, an announcer makes an announcement from the heaven You are good and your walking is good and you will occupy a house in the Paradise. (Ibn Majah 1443)
The Prophet (S) said When a Muslim pays visit to his brother Muslim he continues to gather the fruits of paradise till he returns (Muslim)
Say to the sick:
The Prophet (S) said As you pay visit to the patient, cheer him up about life for it does not alter anything (of the Decree) but it pleases the patients heart (Ibn Majah 1438)
The Prophet (S) said No Muslim will visit another and say seven times I ask Allah, the Mighty, the Lord of the mighty throne, to cure you without his being cured, unless his time has come. (Abu Dawud & Tirmidhi)
Say to the dying (Muslim 1998):
The Prophet (S) said Exhort to recite There is no god but Allah to those of you who are dying.
Dua for the dead (Muslim 2003):
The Messenger of Allah (S) came to Abu Salama (as he died). His (Abu Salamas) eyes were fixedly open. He (S) closed them, and then said: When the soul is taken away the sight follows it.
Some of the people of his family wept and wailed. So he (S) said:
do not supplicate for yourselves anything but good, for angels say Amen to what you say.
He (S) then said:
O Allah, forgive Abu Salama, raise his degree among those who are rightly guided, grant him a successor in his descendants who remain. Forgive us and him, O Lord of the Universe, and make his grave spacious, and grant him light in it.
2. WASHING AND SHROUDING THE DEAD
Washing:
Narrated Um Atiyya al-Ansariya (RA) Allahs Apostle (S) came to us when his daughter died and said, Wash her thrice or five times or more if you see it necessary, with water and sidr and then apply camphor at the end; and when you finished notify me.
So when we finished it we informed him and he gave us his waist-sheet and told us to shroud the dead body in it. (Bukhari Vol. 2, 344)
Narrated Um Atiyya (RA) Allahs Apostle (S), concerning his (dead) daughters bath said start with the right side and the parts which are washed in ablution. (Bukhari Vol. 2, 346)
Um Atiyya (RA) said that they had entwined the hair of the daughter of Allahs Apostle (S) in three braids. They first undid her hair, washed and then entwined it in three braids. (Bukhari Vol. 2, 350)
Aisha (RA) reported: The Prophet (S) said Nothing will harm if you pass away before me. I shall take care of you. I shall give you a bath, wrap you in a shroud, invoke blessings upon you and bury you (Ibn Majah 1465)
It is not allowed for women to wash men and for men to wash women, but a wife may wash her husband and husband his wife.
Shrouding:
The Prophet (S) said, When one of you shrouds his brother he should use a shroud of good quality. (Muslim)
The Prophet (S) said, Do not be extravagant in shrouding, for it will quickly be decayed. (Abu Dawud)
The Prophet (S) said, The best of your garments are white (ones). So, shroud your deceased persons in them and wear them (during life). (Ibn Majah 1472)
Narrated Aisha (RA) Allahs Apostle (S) was shrouded in three Yemenite white Suhuliya (pieces of cloth) of cotton, and in them there was neither a shirt nor a turban. (Bukhari Vol. 2, 354)
Narrated Ibn Abbas (RA) While a man was at Arafat (for Hajj) with Allahs Apostle (S), he fell down from his mount and broke his neck (and died). So Allahs Apostle (S) said wash him with water and sidr, and shroud him in two pieces of cloth, and neither perfume him nor cover his head, for Allah will resurrect him on the Day of Resurrection and he will be saying Labbaik (Bukhari Vol. 2, 356)
To shroud one with (the price of) all of ones own property... Ibrahim said Start with the shroud first, then pay his debts, then follow his will. (Bukhari Vol. 2, Chapter 25)
3. THE BIER AND FUNERAL PRAYER
The Prophet (S) said, Make haste at a funeral; if the dead person was good, it is a good state to which you are sending him; but if he was otherwise it is a evil of which you are ridding yourselves. (Muslim 2059)
Narrated Um Atiyya (RA) We were forbidden to accompany funeral processions but not strictly (Bukhari Vol 2, 368)
Umm Atiyya reported We were forbidden to follow the bier, but it was not made absolute on us. (Muslim 2039)
The Prophet (S) said, When you see a funeral procession, you should stand up, and whoever accompanies it should not sit till the coffin is put down (Bukhari Vol 2, 397)
Narrated Samura bin Jundab (RA) I offered the funeral prayer behind the Prophet (S) for a woman who had died during child birth and he stood by the middle of the coffin. (Bukhari Vol 2, 416)
Samura b. Jundub said: I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (S) and he prayed for a woman who died in the state of delivery. He stood in front of her waist. (Muslim 2107)
From Bukhari Vol 2, Chapter 55:
The Prophet (S) said Offer the funeral prayer for your friend.
He called it a prayer although there is no bowing, prostration nor loud recitation in it, and there are Takbirs and Taslim, Ibn Umar never offered the (funeral) prayer without ablution, nor at sunrise or at sunset and used to raise both his hands (at the time of saying Takbir). Al-Hasan (Al-Basri) said, I noticed that the people (i.e. the Prophet (S) companions) regarding as the most deserving man to lead the funeral prayer the one whom they were satisfied with to lead them in compulsory prayer. If a person has hadath on the Id Day (during Id prayer), or during the funeral prayer, he should look for water (to do ablution) and should not perform Tayammum. If anyone happens to pass by a funeral and the people are offering the (funeral) prayer, then it is advisable for him to join them by saying Takbir, Ibn Al-Musaiyab said, "(In funeral prayer) there are four Takbirs, whether the prayer is offered at night or by day, in journey or at home." Anas said, "One Takbir is for starting the prayer," and quoting Quran he said, "and never (O Muhammad (S)) pray for anyone of them (i.e. hypocrite), that dies, nor stand at his grave (9:84)". And in the funeral prayer there are rows and Imam.
The Prophet (S) informed about the news of the death of An-Najashi (King of Abyssinia) on the day he died. He went out with us to the Musalla and we aligned in rows and he said four Takbirs for An-Najashis funeral prayer. (Bukhari Vol 2, 417)
The Prophet (S) 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 (Bukhari Vol 2, 410)
4. THE GRAVE
The Prophet (S) said, Dig the grave deep, make it spacious and prepare it well (Ibn Majah 1560)
The Prophet (S) forbade that the graves should be plastered, or they be used as sitting places (for the people), or a building should be built over them. (Muslim 2116)
The Prophet (S) said, It is better that one of you should sit on live coals which would burn his clothes and come in contact with his skin than that he should sit on a grave. (Muslim 2119)
The Prophet (S) said, Do not sit on the graves, and do not pray facing towards them. (Muslim 2121)
The Prophet (S) said when Allahs slave is put in the grave and his companions return and he even hears their footsteps, two angels come to him and make him sit and ask, what did you used to say about this man (i.e. Muhammad (S)? the faithful believer will say, I testify that he is Allahs slave and Apostle. Then they will say to him, look at your place in the Hell Fire; Allah has changed for you a place in Paradise instead of it. so he will see both his places. Whereas a hypocrite or a non-believer will reply, I don’t know, but I used to say what the people used to say. So they will say to him, neither did you know nor did you take guidance (by reciting the Quran). Then he will be hit with iron hammers once, that he will send such a cry as everything near to him will hear, except Jinns and human beings. (Abridged Bukhari Vol 2, 456)
Can women visit graves?
From Mishkat Al-Masabih:
"Ibn Masud reported the Prophet (S) 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. (Ibn Majah 1571)
Abu Huraira said Gods Messenger (S) cursed women who visited graves. Ahmad, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is Hasan Sahih tradition. He added that some learned men considered that this was before the Prophet (S) gave licence to visit graves, and when he gave it both men and women were included. But some hold that it is disapproved of women visiting graves because of the small amount of self control they posses and their tendency to be greatly upset."
Aisha (RA) is reported to have said that Allahs Messenger (S) has permitted the visit to graves. (Ibn Majah 1570)
5. MOURNING
Patience is to be observed at the first stroke of a calamity. Umar (RA) said how good the two equals are and how good the reward is for those when afflicted with calamity, say "Inna lil-lahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun" ("Truly to Allah we belong and truly to Him we shall return") (2:156).
"And seek help in patience and prayer, and truly it is hard except for the humble-minded." (Bukhari Vol 2, Chapter 41)
The Prophet (S) said, Endurance is to be shown at the first blow. (Muslim 2012)
The Prophet (S) said, It is not legal for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for more than three days for any dead person except her husband, for whom she should mourn for 4 months and 10 days. (Bukhari Vol 2, 370)
The Prophet (S) said, He who slaps (his) cheeks, tears (his) clothes and follows the traditions of the Days of Ignorance is not from us (Bukhari Vol 2, 385)
The Prophet (S) said, Dont abuse the dead, because they have reached the destination of what they forwarded. (Bukhari Vol 2, 476)
The Prophet (S) said, He whom you praised in good terms, Paradise has become certain for him, and he whom you condemned in bad words, Hell has become certain for him. (Abridged, Muslim 2073)
Abdullah b. Jafar (RA) is reported to have said that when the news of Jafars death reached, Allahs Messenger (S) said, Prepare food for the people of Jafar for (a news) has reached them which has caused trouble to them, or something has happened that has engrosed their attention (and thus they are unable to prepare food for themselves). (Ibn Majah 1610)
Jabir b. Abdullah al-Bajali is reported to have said, We used to deem gathering to the relatives of the deceased and preparing food (like an act) of wailing (over the dead body). (Ibn Majah 1612)
From Bukhari Vol 2, Chapter 32:
The deceased is punished because of the weeping of some of his relatives (if wailing and excessive sorrow was the custom of that dead person).
This is in agreement with the statement of Allah "Save yourself and your families from a fire (66:6)
And the Prophet (S) said, All of you are guardians and responsible for your wards.
If that wailing was not his custom, so, as Aisha (RA) (quoting the Quran) said "No burdened soul will bear anothers burden if one heavily laden calls another to (bear) his load, not the least portion of it will be carried (by the other)." (35:18)
6. THE MARTYRS
The Prophet (S) shrouded every two martyrs in Uhud in one piece of cloth and then he would ask Which of them knew the Quran more? And if one of them was pointed out for him as having more knowledge of it, he would put him first in the grave. He said I will be a witness on these (on the Day of Resurrection). Then he ordered them to be buried with blood on their bodies. Neither did he offer their funeral (prayer) nor did he get them washed. (Bukhari Vol 2, 431)
The Prophet (S) used to shroud two or three persons martyred in Uhud (battle) together in one cloth, and then he would say Who amongst them committed more Quran to his memory? When anyone of them was pointed to him, he laid him first in the niche (grave) and said I am witness of them he ordered to bury them (besmeared) with their blood and he did not observe prayer over them. Nor they were washed. (Ibn Majah 1514)
7. SUICIDE
Muslim 2133, Note 1310:
Jabir b. Samura reported: (The dead body) of a person who had killed himself with a broad-headed arrow was brought before the Apostle of Allah (S), but he did not offer prayers for him.
The scholars who do not approve of the funeral prayer over the wicked and the wanton base their contention on this hadith. But a majority of the jurists is of the view that the Holy Prophet (S) did not offer prayer for him in the same spirit in which he refused to offer prayer for the one who was in debt. He adopted this attribute with the view to making his Companions understand that the act of committing suicide or incurring unnecessary debt are great sins which could deprive them of the great privilege, i.e. their funeral prayer being led by the Prophet (S). But just as the Holy Prophet (S) allowed his Companions to offer prayers for the one who was in debt, in the same way the companions of the Holy Prophet (S) were allowed to offer funeral prayers for the one who had committed suicide. The Holy Prophet (S) did not join the prayers for instilling in the minds of his people the enormity of the crime in case of a man who commits suicide.
EUTHANASIA
Euthanasia (so-called mercy killing) means to bring about a mercifully easy and painless death for persons suffering from an incurable and painful disease!
Euthanasia is not a merciful release but a murder. It is an act of murder and is prohibited in Islam.
"Kill not yourselves. Lo! Allah is ever Merciful unto you." (4:29)
References:
Al Quran
Sahih Bukhari
Sahih Muslim
Ibn Majah (only Sahih Ahadith Selected)
Mishkat Al-Masabih by Sh. Muhammad Ashraf
Islamic Health Rules by Dr. S M Darsh
Studies In Islam 11 by Maulvi Abdul Aziz
Last update : 15-07-2002 21:43
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