❖ Rulings Regarding a Person Near Death ❖
✍️ Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori
🔹 Meaning of Janāʾiz (Funerals)
The word “جنائز“ is the plural of “جنازۃ“. With kasrah on the letter jeem, it refers to the deceased person, while with fatḥah, it may refer to the bier (funeral bed) carrying the deceased. However, both usages are valid. The word derives from جَنَزَ يَجُزُ (like ضَرَبَ), which means “to cover or conceal.”
➤ Sources: al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ, Nayl al-Awṭār, Sharḥ Muslim by Imam Nawawi, Fatḥ al-Bārī by Ibn Ḥajar
❖ Visiting a Sick Person Near Death (ʿIyādah al-Marīḍ)
① Five Rights of a Muslim Over Another Muslim
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“The Muslim has five rights over another: returning the greeting, visiting the sick, following the funeral, accepting invitations, and saying ‘yarḥamuk Allah’ to one who sneezes.”
➤ [Bukhari: 1240; Muslim: 2162]
② “Visit the sick and feed the hungry…”
➤ [Bukhari: 7173; Abu Dawood: 3105]
③ The Prophet ﷺ visited Zayd bin Arqam when he had eye pain.
➤ [Sahih Abu Dawood: 2659]
④ Sa’d bin Muʿādh was wounded during the Battle of Khandaq. The Prophet ﷺ had his tent pitched near the Masjid so he could visit him frequently.
➤ [Sahih Abu Dawood: 2658]
⑤ “When a Muslim visits his sick brother, he remains in the gardens of Paradise until he returns.”
➤ [Muslim: 2568]
⑥ “If a person visits a sick person in the morning, 70,000 angels pray for him until the evening, and vice versa.”
➤ [Sahih Tirmidhi: 775]
❖ Supplications to Say While Visiting the Sick
① “اللَّهُمَّ اشْفِ عَبْدَكَ يَنْكَا لَكَ عَدُوًّا أَوْ يَمْشِي لَكَ جَنَازَةً“
➤ [Sahih Abu Dawood: 2664]
② “O Allah! Heal Saʿd and complete his hijrah.”
➤ [Sahih Abu Dawood: 2661]
③ Say seven times during the visit:
“أَسْأَلُ اللهَ الْعَظِيمَ رَبَّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ أَنْ يُشْفِيَكَ“
➤ [Sahih Abu Dawood: 2663]
④ “Say good things near the sick or the dead, as the angels say Āmīn to what you say.”
➤ [Muslim: 920]
❖ Instructing the Dying Person to Say the Shahādah
① “Instruct your dying ones with Lā ilāha illā Allāh.”
➤ [Muslim: 916]
② The Prophet ﷺ told an Ansari man: “Say Lā ilāha illā Allāh.”
➤ [Ahkam al-Jana’iz, p. 20]
③ “Whoever’s last words are Lā ilāha illā Allāh shall enter Paradise.”
➤ [Sahih Abu Dawood: 2673]
④ This narration is also confirmed from Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه.
➤ [Muslim: 918]
📝 According to Imam Nawawi, this recommendation is mustaḥabb (preferred).
❖ Turning the Dying Person Towards the Qiblah & Closing Their Eyes
🔹 No authentic marfūʿ hadith proves the act of turning a dying person towards the Qiblah.
Shaykh al-Albani رحمه الله categorized it among innovations.
➤ [Ahkam al-Jana’iz, p. 307]
🔸 However, some infer evidence from:
① “Baytullah is your Qiblah in life and death…”
➤ [Sahih Abu Dawood: 2499]
✘ This addresses the general Qiblah and is not specific to the dying.
② The will of al-Barā’ bin Maʿrūr to be turned Qiblah-ward at death.
➤ [Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr: 2/208]
③ Fatimah رضي الله عنها turned toward the Qiblah at the time of her death.
➤ [Ahmad: 6/461–462]
🔹 Disliked by some scholars like Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib.
Closing the Eyes of the Deceased
① “Close the eyes of your dead; the soul follows the gaze…”
➤ [Sahih Ibn Majah: 1455]
② The Prophet ﷺ closed the eyes of Abu Salamah.
➤ [Muslim: 920]
📝 Ibn Nawawi: Consensus of the Muslims.
❖ Reciting Sūrah Yāsīn Near the Dying Person
📌 The hadith “Recite Sūrah Yāsīn upon your dying ones” is weak.
➤ [Abu Dawood: 3121; Ibn Mājah: 1448]
📌 No authentic narration confirms this practice.
➤ [Albani: Ahkam al-Jana’iz, p. 20]
❖ Hasten the Burial (Tajhīz and Tadfīn)
① “Make haste with the funeral…”
➤ [Bukhari: 1315; Muslim: 944]
② “Do not delay in three matters… one of them: the janāzah.”
➤ [Daʿīf: Tirmidhi: 172]
③ “Hasten with the burial; do not keep a Muslim’s body among his family.”
➤ [Daʿīf: Abu Dawood: 3159]
④ Abu Musa رضي الله عنه said: “When you carry my janāzah, walk quickly.”
➤ [Hasan: Ahkam al-Jana’iz, p. 18]
❖ Paying the Debts of the Deceased, Covering and Kissing the Body
① “The soul of a believer remains suspended due to debt until it is paid off.”
➤ [Sahih Ibn Majah: 1957]
② The Prophet ﷺ said about a deceased man: “He is detained by his debt; pay it off.”
➤ [Ibn Mājah: 2433]
③ Earlier, the Prophet ﷺ would not lead the janāzah prayer of one who left debts unless arrangements were made.
➤ [Sahih Ibn Majah: 1959]
④ “Whoever takes people’s wealth with intention to repay it, Allah will repay for him…”
➤ [Bukhari: 2387]
⑤ “When the Prophet ﷺ passed away, he was covered in a striped cloak.”
➤ [Bukhari: 5814]
📌 Those who die in the state of ḥajj (iḥrām) should not have their head or face covered.
➤ [Bukhari: 1265]
Kissing the Deceased
① Abu Bakr kissed the Prophet ﷺ after his death.
➤ [Bukhari: 4455–4457]
② The Prophet ﷺ kissed ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn after his death and wept.
➤ [Sahih Abu Dawood: 2709]
❖ The Dying Should Have Good Thoughts of Allah and Repentance
① “Let none of you die except while having good thoughts of Allah.”
➤ [Muslim: 2877]
② “I hope from Allah and fear my sins.” The Prophet ﷺ replied: “These two do not unite in a heart at such a time except Allah grants what he hopes and gives safety from what he fears.”
➤ [Sahih Ibn Majah: 3436]
Relevant Verses:
➊ “Repent to Allah, O believers, that you may be successful.”
➤ [An-Nūr: 31]
➋ “Seek forgiveness of your Lord, then turn to Him in repentance.”
➤ [Hūd: 3]
➌ “O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance.”
➤ [At-Taḥrīm: 8]
❖ Fulfilling Responsibilities and Making a Will Before Death
① “If someone wrongs another in honor or anything, let him seek pardon today before the Day when no dirham or dinar will help…”
➤ [Bukhari: 2449]
② “The bankrupt is one who brings prayer, fasting, zakah—but also insults, slanders, and harms others, and his deeds are taken away.”
➤ [Sahih Tirmidhi: 1971]
🔹 If someone owes others a right—debt, trust, or usurped property—he should return it or write a will for it.
➤ [Ahkam al-Jana’iz, p. 12]
③ “It is not fitting for a Muslim who has something to bequeath to remain two nights without having his will written and kept with him.”
➤ [Bukhari: 2738; Muslim: 1627]
