What is said in supplication in the funeral prayer

Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik al-Ashja'i (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicating thus over a deceased person: "O Allah, forgive him and have mercy on him, grant him well-being and pardon him, honor his lodging and make wide the place he enters, and wash him with water, snow and hail. Cleanse him of sins as a white garment is cleansed of filth. O Allah, give him in exchange a home better than his home, a wife better than his wife, and a family better than his family. Admit him to Paradise and save him from Hell," or he said: "protect him from the punishment of Hell." This went on to the point that I began to wish that I were that dead person.

Ibrahim al-Ansari narrated from his father that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicating thus in the funeral prayer over a deceased person: "O Allah, forgive every one of us who is living and every one of us who has died, every one of us who is present and every one of us who is absent, every man among us and every woman among us, every young one among us and every old one among us."

Uthman bin Shammas said: We were with Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) when Marwan passed by him. He said to him: "Hold back some of your narrating from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Then he went on, and after a little while he returned. We said: "Now he will fall upon him." But he said: "What have you heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicating in the funeral prayer?" He said: "I heard him (peace and blessings be upon him) making this supplication: 'You alone guided him to Islam and You alone took his soul. You alone know his hidden and open matters. We have come to You as intercessors for him, so forgive him.'"

Abu Salamah said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite this supplication in the funeral prayer: "O Allah, forgive every one of us who is living and every one of us who has died, every man among us and every woman among us, every one of us who is present and every one of us who is absent, every young one among us and every old one among us. O Allah, whomever of us You keep alive, keep him alive upon faith, and whomever of us You cause to die, cause him to die upon Islam."

Abu Malik said that when Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) led the funeral prayer over a deceased person, he would say: "O Allah, this is Your servant. His family, his wealth and his clan have handed him over. The sins are many, and You are Forgiving, Merciful."

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib said that if it was evening, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would supplicate in the funeral prayer thus: "O Allah, Your servant has reached the evening." And if it was morning, he would supplicate thus: "O Allah, Your servant has reached the morning. He has left the world and left it to the people of the world. You have no need of him and he is in need of You. He used to bear witness that there is no true god but You, and that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is Your servant and Your Messenger. So forgive his sins."

Abdullah bin Abd al-Rahman bin Abza said that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) used to recite this supplication in the funeral prayer: "O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, join our hearts together, set right the affairs 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 what is better than that in which he was. O Allah, we seek Your pardon."

Khalid said: I attended the funeral of Ghunaym, and a man narrated to me from him that Ghunaym said: I heard Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) say the takbir for the funeral prayer over a deceased person, and then he supplicated thus: "O Allah, forgive him as he asked You for forgiveness, grant him what he asked of You, and increase him from Your bounty."

Abu Salamah said that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) said: In the funeral prayer, supplicate thus: "O Allah, forgive every one of us who is living and every one of us who has died, every young one among us and every old one among us, every man among us and every woman among us, every one of us who is present and every one of us who is absent. O Allah, whomever of us You cause to die, cause him to die upon faith, and whomever of us You keep, keep him upon Islam."

Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji said: I asked Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) about the funeral prayer, and he said: We used to supplicate thus: "O Allah, You are our Lord and his Lord. You alone created him, You alone provided for him, You alone gave him life, and You alone sufficed him. So forgive us and him, do not deprive us of his reward, and do not lead us astray after him."

Ibn Amr bin Ghaylan said that Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) used to recite this supplication in the funeral prayer: "O Allah, forgive our living and dead Muslims. O Allah, forgive the believing men and the believing women, and the Muslim men and the Muslim women, set right the affairs between them, join their hearts together, and make their hearts like the hearts of the best among them. O Allah, forgive the sins of so-and-so, son of so-and-so, 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 those who remain behind, and place his record of deeds in Illiyyin. Lord of all the worlds, forgive us and him. O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward, and do not cast us into misguidance after him."

Nafi' said that when Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) performed the funeral prayer over someone, he would supplicate thus: "O Allah, bless him, send mercy upon him, forgive him, and bring him to the Pond of Kawthar of Your Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)." The narrator said: In the long standing and the many words, I could understand nothing from him other than this.

Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Awf said that Ibn Luhayy al-Hawzani attended the funeral of Shurahbil bin al-Simt. Sayyiduna Habib bin Maslamah al-Fihri (may Allah be pleased with him) was put forward to lead it. Then he turned toward us, as though looking down over us because of his height, and said: "Strive in supplication for your brother, and be among those who supplicate for him thus: 'O Allah, forgive this pure Muslim, make him among those who repented and followed Your path, and protect him from the punishment of Hell.' And seek the help of Allah against your enemy."