The states of the dying person

It is narrated from Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him) that he left this instruction: "When the time of my death draws near, seat someone beside me who will prompt me to say 'La ilaha illallah' (there is no god worthy of worship except Allah); and (after death) carry me quickly to my grave; and do not make a public announcement of my death among the people, for I fear that this act may resemble the death-cry of the Jahiliyyah (wailing and publicity)."
This report is mawquf (stopping) at Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him), and its chain is sahih (authentic).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was extremely grieved and sad. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What is the matter, that I see you so sorrowful?" He said: "O Messenger of Allah! Last night I was with a certain cousin of mine while he was in the throes of death, struggling with his soul." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then why did you not prompt him to say 'La ilaha illallah' (there is no god worthy of worship except Allah)?" He said: "O Messenger of Allah! I did so." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Did he say this word?" He said: "Yes." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then Paradise has become obligatory for him." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah! What is the standing of this word for the living?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is far more effective in erasing and demolishing their sins; it uproots their sins entirely."
Musnad Abi Ya'la: 771. Its chain contains Za'idah bin Abi al-Ruqad and Ziyad al-Numayri, because of whom there is weakness in the chain; however, other sahih hadith on the virtue of the word of Tawhid exist as supporting reports.

It is narrated from Imam Makhul (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) fell ill, and his companions came to visit him. He said: "Sit me up." So his companions sat him up. Then he (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I heard a blessed saying from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Whoever's last words at the time of death are "La ilaha illallah, wahdahu la sharika lah" (there is no true god except Allah, He is alone, He has no partner), this word wipes out all his previous sins and errors; so prompt your dying ones to say it.'" The people said: "O Abu Abd al-Rahman (Sayyiduna Mu'adh)! How is this word for the living (in reward)?" He said: "It wipes out and removes (their sins) even more."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated this hadith in his Musnad. Its chain contains a narrator named Faraj bin Fadalah, who is da'if (weak) according to the majority of hadith scholars; however, the virtue of prompting the testimony of faith and of its being the last words is also established by other sahih hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: "I came to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) and saw upon him the signs of the death throes and the severity of death, so I recited (in a pained tone) this verse of poetry: 'Alas! Ah, the grief! The one whose tears always remain held back (out of patience and restraint), they will at last, at one time, surely pour out.' Upon this Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'Do not say that; rather, recite this (Qur'anic verse): "And the stupor of death will come in truth; that is what you were trying to avoid" [Surah Qaf: 19].'"
Imam Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili recorded this hadith in his Musnad, and all its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Narrate about the Children of Israel, for very wondrous events took place among them." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) began to narrate an incident and said: "A group of them went out and came to one of their graveyards. There they consulted one another: 'How good it would be if we prayed two rak'ahs and implored Allah Almighty to bring out for us one of the dead who would tell us about the reality of death!'" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "So they did that. While they were still occupied with it, suddenly an Abyssinian man put out his head from a grave, with the mark of prostration prominent on his forehead. He said: O people! What do you want from me? By Allah! A hundred years have passed since I died, yet the heat and burning of death had not cooled from me until now, only now have I found some relief. So pray to Allah Almighty, 'fad'u Allaha ta'ala an yu'idani kama kuntu' (so pray to Allah Almighty that He return me (as dead) as I was before)."
Imam Abd narrated this report from Imam Abu Bakr.
In the narration of Imam Ahmad bin Mani', it is narrated from Abd al-Rahman bin Sabit (may Allah have mercy on him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Narrate the accounts of the Children of Israel, and there is no harm in it, for astonishing events were found among them." Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) related in that same gathering that some people of the Children of Israel went out to reflect upon the earth, and they passed by a graveyard; then the narrator mentioned the above-mentioned story, except that in it are these words: a black or Abyssinian man appeared before them with the mark of prostration on his forehead. He said: What do you want from me? You have attempted a very great matter through me. By Allah! For forty years I had been feeling the taste of death and its burning, and your supplication arrived just when some relief had come to my pain. So pray to Allah, 'fad'u Allaha ta'ala an yu'idani kama kuntu' (so pray to Allah Almighty that He return me to the state I was in). So they prayed, and Allah returned him to the state he was in before.

Salm bin Atiyyah al-Fuqaymi narrates that Sayyiduna Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) went to visit a sick man and saw that the throes and severity of death were upon him. So he (may Allah be pleased with him) said (addressing the Angel of Death): "O Angel of Death, be gentle with him, for he is a believer." Then that sick man said that he (the angel) was saying: "Indeed, I deal with every believer only with gentleness and kindness."
The chain of this report is hasan (good). Imam Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated it in his al-Musannaf (hadith: 34327) and Imam Ahmad in Kitab al-Zuhd (hadith: 187).

It is narrated from Ata' bin Yasar (may Allah have mercy on him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The harshness of the Angel of Death (in taking the soul) is more severe than a thousand blows of the sword, and no believer dies but every single vein of his body feels pain separately."
Imam al-Harith said: I think that he (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: "And give him the glad tidings of Paradise, for the distress (of death) is very great and its terror extremely severe, and that is the time when the enemy of Allah (Satan) is closest to a person."

It is narrated from Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him) that he went on campaign in the region of Khurasan and stayed there for two years. During that time he continued to pray only two rak'ahs (shortening the prayer) and did not combine the prayers. Then death approached a cousin of his, so he went to visit him and there narrated this hadith: Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) informed me that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no believer except that he has some sins for which he is recompensed (as expiation) in this world, and if some portion of sins remains upon him, (the throes of) death are made hard for him at the time of death (so that he is purified); and I do not like a death like the death of a donkey," meaning dying suddenly.
There is criticism of the chain of this report because of the weakness of the narrators named Husam bin Missak and Abu Ma'shar; however, the meaning of sins being forgiven through hardships, afflictions and the severity of death is established by other authentic hadith.

With this same chain, it is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, the death of a believer occurs with sweat on the forehead." According to the scholars, the appearance of sweat on the forehead at the time of death is, for a believer, a sign of Allah's mercy, the expiation of sins and the raising of ranks.
[Sahih: Sunan al-Tirmidhi: 982, Sunan al-Nasa'i: 1828, Sunan Ibn Majah: 1452, Musnad Ahmad: 23012].

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "The believer passes away with sweat on the forehead; the fact is that some sins of the believer remain, for which expiation is made at the time of the severity of death so that he becomes pure, and because of this hardship his forehead breaks out in sweat."
Imam Musaddad also reported a similar narration from Yunus through Yazid bin Zuray'.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The death of a believer is with sweat on the forehead."
Imam al-Bazzar (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it in his Musnad. Although in this chain of it the narrator named Hajjaj bin Nusayr is da'if (weak), this hadith is sahih (authentic) on the basis of other sahih supporting reports and chains, and narrations of the same meaning have also been reported by Imams al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Death is the gift of the believer."
Imam Abd bin Humayd and Imam Abu Ya'la also narrated this hadith with their respective chains through Abdullah bin al-Mubarak.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no dying person (in the throes of death) beside whom Surah Ya-Sin is recited, except that Allah Almighty makes it (the pain of his death) easy for him."
Imam Ibn Abi Umar al-Adani narrated this hadith in his Musnad; however, its chain contains a narrator named Marwan bin Salim al-Jazari, who is matruk (abandoned) and very weak. For this reason Allamah al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned it in Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah (5861), and Ibn Abi Asim recorded it in al-Ahad wa al-Mathani (925) and al-Daylami in Musnad al-Firdaws (6038).