3.1.9 Service On The Dead

A Divine service is held over the dead body of every Muslim, young or old, even of infants who have lived only for a few minutes or seconds. It is called salat al-jana’iz. When a person dies, the body is washed with soap or some other disinfectant and cleansed of all impurities which may be due to disease. In washing the dead body, the parts which are washed in wudzu’ are taken first, and then the whole body is washed (Bu. 23:8, 9, 11). It is then wrapped in one or more white sheets (Bu. 23:19, 20, 27) and scent is also added (Bu. 23:21). In the case of martyrs, or persons slain in battle, the washing and wrapping in white cloth is dispensed with (Bu. 23:73). The dead body is then placed on a bier, or, if necessary, in a coffin, and carried on the shoulders, as a mark of respect, to its last resting-place, though the carrying of the body by any other means is not prohibited. The Holy Prophet stood up when he saw the bier of a Jew pass by. He did this to show respect to the dead, and then enjoined his followers to stand up as a mark of respect when a bier passed by, whether it was a Muslim or a non-Muslim (Bu. 23:50).

Following the dead body to the grave and taking part in the Divine service held over it is regarded as a duty which a Muslim owes to a Muslim, and so is also the visiting of the sick (Bu. 23:2). Technically, taking part in Divine service is called fardz kifayah, which means that it is sufficient that some Muslims should take part in it. Women are not prohibited from going with the bier, though their presence is not considered desirable, because being more emotional and tender-hearted than men they may break down. The service may be held anywhere, in a mosque or in an open space or even in the graveyard if sufficient ground is available there. All those who take part in the service must perform wudzu’. The bier is placed in front; the Imam stands facing the middle of the bier whether the body be of a male or a female (Bu. 23:64), and the people form themselves into lines according to the number of those who take part, facing the Qiblah. The general practice is to have three rows at least, but Bukhari is expressly of opinion that there may be two rows or three or more (Bu. 23:54). If the number of people is very small, there is no harm if they form only a single line. The service starts with the takbir, with the pronouncement of which hands are raised to the ears and placed in the same position as in prayer. Four takbirs in all are pronounced loudly by the Imam (Bu. 23:65). After the first takbir, the same dhikr relating to the praise and glory of God is repeated in a low voice by the Imam as well as those who follow, as in the first rak‘ah of the daily service, followed by the Opening chapter of the Holy Qur’an (Fatihah), but without adding any portion of the Holy Qur’an (Bu. 23:66). The second takbir is then pronounced without raising the hands to the ears, and the dhikr known as al-sala ‘ala-l-Nabiyy is recited in a low voice as in the qa‘dah (see p. 313). After the third takbir, a prayer for the forgiveness of the deceased is addressed to God. Different forms of this prayer are reported as having been offered by the Holy Prophet, and it seems that prayer in any form is permissible. The following are the most well-known:

Allah-umma-ghfir li-hayyina wa mayyiti-na wa shahidi-na wa gha’ibi-na wa saghiri-na wa kabiri-na wa zakari-na wa untha-na;

O Allah! Grant protection to our living and to our dead and to those of us who are present and those who are absent, and to our young and our old folk and to our males and our females;

Allah-umma man ahyaita-hu minna fa-ahyi-hi ‘ala-l- Islami wa man tawaffai-ta-hu minna fatawaffa-hu ‘ala-l-iman;

O Allah! Whomsover Thou grantest to live from among us, cause him to live in Islam (submission) and whomsoever of us Thou causest to die, make him die in faith;

Allah-umma la tahrim-na ajra-hu wa la taftinna ba‘da-hu (MM 5:5-ii).

O Allah! Do not deprive us of his reward and do not make us fall into a trial after him.

Another prayer runs thus:

Allah-umma-ghfir la-hu wa-rham-hu wa ‘afi-hi wa‘-fu ‘an-hu wa akrim nuzula-hu wa wassi‘ madkhala-hu wa-ghsil-hu bi-l-ma’i wa-th-thalji wa-l-baradi wa naqqi-hi min al-khataya kama naqqaita-ththaub al-abyadz min-ad- danasi (M. 11:27).

O Allah! Grant him protection, and have mercy on him, and keep him in good condi- tion, and pardon him, and make his entertainment honourable, and expand his place of entering, and wash him with water and snow and hail and clean him of faults as the white cloth is cleaned of dross.

After the fourth takbir, the taslim is pronounced loudly by the Imam, as at the close of prayer (see p. 299). A similar Divine service may be held in the case of a dead man when the dead body is not present. A funeral service was held by the Holy Prophet himself in Madinah when news of the death of the Negus of Abyssinia reached him (Bu. 23:4). When the service is over, the bier is taken to the grave and buried. The grave is dug in such a manner that the dead body may be laid in it facing Makkah. It is generally between four and six feet deep, and an oblong excavation is made on one side, wherein the dead body is to be placed. This is called the lahd. The dead body is made to rest in the lahd facing the Qiblah. If the dead body is contained in a coffin, the lahd may be dispensed with. The following words are reported in a hadith as having been uttered by the Holy Prophet when placing a dead body in the grave:

Bi-smi-llahi wa billahi wa ‘ala sunnati Rasuli-llah (Tr. 10:53).

In the name of Allah and With Allah and according to the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.

The grave is then filled in and a prayer is again offered for the dead one and the people then depart (AD. 20:70). The funeral service of a child is similar to that of one who has reached the age of discretion, except that the prayer after the third takbir is different:

Allah-umma-j‘al-hu la-na farat-an wa salaf-an wa dhukhr- an wa ajr-an (Bu. 23:66).

O Allah! Make him for us a cause of recompense in the life to come and as one going before and a treasure and a reward.

It will be seen that the funeral service for children is not a prayer for their forgiveness but a prayer that the young ones who have gone before may be a means of recompense and reward for the parents. There are other hadith which speak of one afflicted with the death of young children as being made to enter Paradise: “A person, three of whose children die before reaching the age of discretion, is saved from the fire, or goes to Paradise” (Bu. 23:92). In the heading of his chapter, Bukhari limits this to the offspring of Muslims (though there are no such words in the hadith itself) and then adds a long hadith in which the Holy Prophet saw in a vision “the children of all people”, i.e., Muslims as well as non-Muslims, around Abraham (Bu. 23:93). The word of this latter report are thus explained in another version of it: “As regards the children around Abraham, they are the children who die ‘ala-l-fitrah (lit., in the state in which they are born, that being called expressly the state of Islam), or before attaining the age of discretion. Some of the Muslims said: O Messenger of Allah! are the children of the polytheists also there? He said: Yes, the children of polytheists also” (Bu. 92:48). Thus all children go to Paradise; more than this, the death of young children is an affliction which becomes the means of taking one to Paradise, perhaps because it brings about a change in the hearts of the parents.

It may also be added in this connection that Islam forbids indulgence in intemperate grief for the dead. It requires that all affliction be borne patiently, as the Holy Qur’an says: “And We shall certainly try you with something of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient, who, when a misfortune befalls them, say: Surely we are Allah’s and to Him we shall return” (2:155, 156). On hearing of the death of a relative or a friend or of any other affliction, a Muslim is enjoined to say Inna li-llahi wa inna ilai-hi raji‘un: “We are Allah’s and to Him we shall return” These words are a source of unlimited solace and comfort in bereavement. Allah has taken away His own; all of us come from God and must return to Him. Hence it is forbidden that one should indulge in regular mourning or ostentatious grief. When visiting a cemetary, the following words are recommended:

As-salamu ‘alai-kum ahlad-diyari min al-mu’mini-na wa- l-Muslimina wa inna insha Allahu bi-kum la-lahiqun; nas’alu-llaha la-na wa la- kum-ul-‘afiyah (M. 12:36).

Peace be on you, O residents of this world from among the faithful and the Muslims, and we will surely join you, if it please Allah. We pray to Allah for security for you and for ourselves.

With small variations this prayer is repeated in several hadith.

A very large number of innovations have grown up about what may be done for the benefit of the dead. There is no mention of any hadith of distributing charity at the grave, or having the Holy Qur’an recited at the grave or elsewhere for the benefit of the dead. There are hadith speaking of the Holy Qur’an being read to the dying person (AD. 20:21); but there is no mention at all of its being read over the dead body or over the grave. Neither is there any mention of saying the Fatihah, or a prayer for the dead, when people come to console the relatives of the departed. The Holy Prophet is, however, reported as having prayed for the dead when visiting their graves, and the simple act of asking forgiveness for the deceased is not forbidden. The preparing of food on the third or tenth or fortieth day after death is also an innovation. There is no mention of it in any hadith. Instead of the family of the deceased preparing food for others, it is recommended that food should be prepared and sent to the family of the deceased by others (Bu. 70:24; AD. 20:27). Alms may, however, be given on behalf of the deceased, and doing deeds of charity is the only thing allowed. It is stated in a hadith that “a man came to the Holy Prophet and said that his mother had died suddenly, and he was sure that if she could speak, she would give something in charity, and enquired whether she would get any reward if he gave charity on her behalf.” The Holy Prophet is reported to have replied in the affirmative (Bu. 23:95). In another hadith it is related that Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubada asked the Holy Prophet if it would benefit his deceased mother, who had died while he was away, if he gave something in charity on her behalf, and the Holy Prophet, in this case also, replied in the affirmative (Bu. 55:15).