Is Giving Talqīn (Prompting) to the Deceased at the Grave Proven from Qur’an and Sunnah?
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 3 – Issues Related to Funeral Prayer, p. 139
Question
A certain book instructs that after completing the burial, one should:
- Make duʿā’ for the deceased’s forgiveness.
- Pray for the deceased to remain firm.
- Recite at the grave:
- Sūrat al-Baqarah, verses 1–5 (once)
- Sūrat al-Baqarah, verses 285–286 (once)
- Say aloud at the grave:
“Yā fulān, say: Lā ilāha illā Allāh.”
“Yā fulān, say: My Lord is Allah, my religion is Islām, and my Prophet is Muḥammad ﷺ.”
Is this proven from the Qur’an and Sunnah?
Answer
① Duʿā’ for Forgiveness and Firmness After Burial
Proven by authentic hadith.
From ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه:
“When you finish burying your brother, ask Allah to forgive him and to grant him firmness.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 3221 – ḥasan; authenticated by al-Ḥākim and agreed upon by al-Dhahabī)
② Reciting Verses from Sūrat al-Baqarah at the Grave
- This is reported only in a mawqūf narration (from Companions, not the Prophet ﷺ).
- Found in al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī (4/56–57).
- Chain includes ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Lajjāj – unknown status (majhūl), making it weak.
- A marfūʿ version (attributed to the Prophet ﷺ) exists in Shuʿab al-Īmān and al-Mishkāt but has two weak narrators: Ayyūb ibn Nahīk and Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Bābaltī. Graded very weak.
③ “Yā Fulān” Type Talqīn at the Grave
- Reported in Bulūgh al-Marām from Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr, and in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī.
- In both chains, there are narrators who are unknown (majhūl).
- Al-Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar mentioned the isnād is “acceptable” and that al-Ḍiyā’ strengthened it in Aḥkāmihi (al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr, 2/135–136), but one narrator – Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-ʿAlāʾ al-Ḥimṣī – was declared “munkar al-ḥadīth” (rejected) by Ibn Ḥajar himself (Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, 5698).
Conclusion
✔ Proven: Making duʿā’ for forgiveness and firmness after burial.
✘ Not proven: Reciting Sūrat al-Baqarah verses at the grave.
✘ Not proven: “Yā fulān” style talqīn after burial.
📌 Giving talqīn before death (to a dying person) is authentically proven and should be practiced within Sharīʿah guidelines.
