Reports on the funeral prayer and the supplication mentioned for the deceased

Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik al-Ashja'i (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recite this supplication over a deceased person: 'Allahumma ighfir lahu warhamhu, wa 'afihi wa'fu 'anhu, wa akrim nuzulahu, wa awsi' mudkhalahu, waghsilhu bil-ma'i wath-thalji wal-barad, wa naqqihi min al-khataya kama yunaqqa al-thawbu al-abyadu min al-danas. Allahumma abdilhu daran khayran min darihi, wa zawjan khayran min zawjihi, wa ahlan khayran min ahlihi, wa adkhilhu al-jannata wa najjihi min al-nar' (O Allah, forgive him and have mercy on him, grant him well-being and pardon him, make his reception honourable and his entrance spacious, wash him with water, snow and hail, and cleanse him of sins as a white garment is cleansed of dirt. O Allah, give him in exchange a home better than his home, a spouse better than his spouse and a family better than his family, admit him to Paradise and save him from the Fire). Or he said: 'Wa qihi 'adhab al-qabr' (and protect him from the punishment of the grave). Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik said: I longed so much that I had been in his place (and that these supplications had been for me).

Abu Ibrahim al-Ansari narrates from his father, who said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recite this while praying over a deceased person: 'Allahumma ighfir li-hayyina wa mayyitina wa shahidina wa gha'ibina wa dhakarina wa unthana wa saghirina wa kabirina' (O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, those of us present and those absent, our males and our females, our young and our old).

Uthman bin Shammas said: We were sitting with Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) when Marwan passed by him and said: "(Hold back) some of your hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." Then he went away, and after a while he came back. We said (to one another): "Now he will fall upon him." But he asked: "What have you heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recite in the funeral prayer?" He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recite this (supplication): 'Allahumma anta hadaytaha lil-Islam, wa anta qabadta ruhaha, ta'lamu sirraha wa 'alaniyataha, ji'naka shufa'a'a, faghfir laha' (O Allah, You guided her to Islam and You took her soul; You know her secret and her open affairs. We have come to You as intercessors, so forgive her).

It is narrated from Abu Salamah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite this in the funeral prayer: 'Allahumma ighfir li-hayyina wa mayyitina wa dhakarina wa unthana wa shahidina wa gha'ibina wa saghirina wa kabirina. Allahumma man ahyaytahu minna fa-ahyihi 'ala al-Islam, wa man tawaffaytahu minna fa-tawaffahu 'ala al-iman' (O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, our males and our females, those of us present and those absent, our young and our old. O Allah, whomever of us You keep alive, keep him alive upon Islam, and whomever of us You take in death, take him upon faith).

It is narrated from Abu Salamah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say in the funeral prayer: 'Allahumma ighfir li-hayyina wa mayyitina wa dhakarina wa unthana wa shahidina wa gha'ibina wa saghirina wa kabirina. Allahumma man ahyaytahu minna fa-ahyihi 'ala al-Islam, wa man tawaffaytahu minna fa-tawaffahu 'ala al-iman' (O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, our males and our females, those of us present and those absent, our young and our old. O Allah, whomever of us You keep alive, keep him alive upon Islam, and whomever of us You take in death, take him upon faith).

It is narrated from Abu Malik that when Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) led the funeral prayer, he would recite this supplication: 'Allahumma 'abduka aslamahu al-ahlu wal-malu wal-'ashirah, wal-dhanbu 'azim, wa anta al-Ghafur al-Rahim' (O Allah, Your servant: his family, wealth and kinsfolk have given him up, and the sin is great, and You are the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful).

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to recite this supplication in the funeral prayer: 'Allahumma amsa' (if it was evening), 'Allahumma asbaha 'abduka' (if it was morning), 'qad takhalla min al-dunya wa tarakaha li-ahliha, wastaghnayta 'anhu waftaqara ilayk, kana yashhadu an la ilaha illa anta wa anna Muhammadan 'abduka wa rasuluk, faghfir lahu dhanbahu' (O Allah, Your servant has reached the evening / the morning; he has left the world and abandoned it to its people; You have no need of him and he is in need of You; he used to bear witness that there is no god but You and that Muhammad is Your servant and Your Messenger, so forgive him his sin).

Abdullah bin Abd al-Rahman bin Abza said: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) used to recite this supplication in the funeral prayer: 'Allahumma ighfir li-ahya'ina wa amwatina, wa allif bayna qulubina, wa aslih dhata baynina, waj'al qulubana 'ala qulubi khiyarina. Allahumma ighfir lahu, Allahumma irhamhu, Allahumma arji'hu ila khayrin mimma kana fihi, Allahumma 'afwak' (O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, unite our hearts, set right the relations between us, and make our hearts like the hearts of the best among us. O Allah, forgive him; O Allah, have mercy on him; O Allah, return him to something better than what he was in; O Allah, (we ask) Your pardon).

Khalid says: I was at the funeral of Ghunaym, and a man from among them told me that he heard Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him): he said the takbir in the funeral prayer and then recited this supplication: 'Allahumma ighfir lahu kama istaghfaraka wa a'tihi ma sa'alaka wa zidhu min fadlika' (O Allah, forgive him as he sought Your forgiveness, give him what he asked of You, and grant him more of Your bounty).

Abu Salamah says that when Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) offered the funeral prayer, he would recite this supplication: 'Allahumma ighfir li-hayyina wa mayyitina wa saghirina wa kabirina wa dhakarina wa unthana wa shahidina wa gha'ibina. Allahumma man tawaffaytahu minhum fa-tawaffahu 'ala al-iman, wa man abqaytahu minhum fa-abqihi 'ala al-Islam' (O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, our young and our old, our males and our females, those of us present and those of us absent. O Allah, whomever of them You cause to die, cause him to die upon faith, and whomever of them You keep alive, keep him alive upon Islam).

Ibn Amr bin Ghaylan says that Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) used to recite this supplication in the funeral prayer: 'Allahumma ighfir li-ahya'ina wa amwatina al-muslimin. Allahumma ighfir lil-muslimina wal-muslimat wal-mu'minina wal-mu'minat, wa aslih dhata baynihim, wa allif bayna qulubihim, waj'al qulubahum 'ala qulubi khiyarihim. Allahumma ighfir li-fulan ibn fulan dhanbahu, wa alhiqhu bi-nabiyyihi Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Allahumma irfa' darajatahu fil-muhtadin, wakhlufhu fi 'aqibihi fil-ghabirin, waj'al kitabahu fi 'Illiyyin, waghfir lana wa lahu Rabb al-'alamin. Allahumma la tahrimna ajrahu wa la tudillana ba'dahu' (O Allah, forgive our living and our dead among the Muslims. O Allah, forgive the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, set right the relations between them, bring their hearts together, and make their hearts like the hearts of the best of them. O Allah, forgive so-and-so son of so-and-so his sin, and join him with his Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). O Allah, raise his rank among the rightly guided, be his successor among his descendants who remain behind, place his record in 'Illiyyin, and forgive us and him, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward and do not lead us astray after him).

Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji says: I asked Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) about the funeral prayer. He said: We recite it like this: 'Allahumma anta Rabbuna wa Rabbuhu, khalaqtahu wa razaqtahu wa ahyaytahu wa kafaytahu, faghfir lana wa lahu, wa la tahrimna ajrahu, wa la tudillana ba'dahu' (O Allah, You are our Lord and his Lord; You created him, provided for him, gave him life and sufficed him, so forgive us and him, do not deprive us of his reward, and do not lead us astray after him).

Nafi' says that when Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) offered the funeral prayer, he would recite this supplication: 'Allahumma barik fihi wa salli 'alayhi waghfir lahu wa awridhu hawda rasulika (peace and blessings be upon him)' (O Allah, bless him, send Your mercy upon him, forgive him, and bring him to the Pond of Your Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)). The narrator says: He stood for a long time and recited a great many supplications, but I could not understand anything of it except this.

Yunus says: I asked Mujahid which supplication should be recited in the funeral prayer. He said: As for us, we recite this: 'Allahumma anta khalaqtahu, wa anta hadaytahu lil-Islam, wa anta qabadta ruhahu, wa anta a'lamu bi-sariratihi wa 'alaniyatihi, ji'na nashfa'u lahu, faghfir lahu' (O Allah, You created him, You guided him to Islam, You took his soul, and You know best his secret and his open affairs; we have come to intercede for him, so forgive him).

Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Awf says that Ibn Luhayy al-Hawzani attended the funeral of Shurahbil bin al-Simt, and Sayyiduna Habib bin Maslamah al-Fihri (may Allah be pleased with him) was put forward to lead the prayer. He turned towards us the way a tall person looks down on others because of his height, and then said: Strive hard in supplication for your brother, and let what you supplicate for him be (like this): 'Allahumma ighfir li-hadhihi al-nafs al-hanifiyyah al-muslimah, waj'alha min alladhina tabu wattaba'u sabilaka, wa qiha 'adhab al-jahim' (O Allah, forgive this upright, Muslim soul, make it among those who repented and followed Your path, and protect it from the punishment of Hellfire). And seek the help of Allah against your enemy.