Rulings and Issues Regarding Funerals
The prayer performed in a specific manner for the forgiveness, pardon and elevation of the degrees of a deceased Muslim is called “Janazah Prayer“.
● Virtue:
It is narrated from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Whoever accompanies a deceased person until the funeral prayer is offered will receive one qirat of reward, and whoever remains until the burial will receive two qirats of reward. And two qirats are equal to two great mountains.”
● Permissibility of Performing the Funeral Prayer in the Mosque:
It is narrated from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Noble Messenger ﷺ performed the funeral prayer for Suhayl ibn Bayda (may Allah be pleased with him) in the mosque.
Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) performed the funeral prayer for Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) in the mosque.
The noble wives of the Prophet ﷺ (may Allah be pleased with them) performed the funeral prayer for Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him), who died in 55 AH, in the mosque.
Imam Abu Dawud said: I saw countless times that Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) would perform the funeral prayer in the mosque.
Imam al-Shafi’i (may Allah have mercy on him) also held the view that the funeral prayer may be performed in the mosque.
● Method of the Funeral Prayer:
(1) After the first takbir: ta’awwudh, Surah al-Fatihah, and then some further portion of the Qur’an.
(2) After the second takbir: the Ibrahimic Durood.
(3) After the third takbir: supplications for the deceased.
(4) After the fourth takbir: the salam.
Just as in obligatory and voluntary prayers, Surah al-Fatihah is obligatory in the funeral prayer. The evidences for the obligation of Surah al-Fatihah that have already been mentioned also include the funeral prayer. Moreover, Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) recited Surah al-Fatihah in a funeral prayer, and when he was asked the reason, he said: I recited Surah al-Fatihah so that you would know that it is a Sunnah.
And in the narration of Sunan al-Nasa’i it is stated that Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) recited Surah al-Fatihah and, along with it, another surah aloud in the funeral prayer, and said: “This is a Sunnah and it is the truth.”
Prescribed Supplications
● First Supplication:
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite this supplication in the funeral prayer:
أللهم اغفر لحينا وميتنا ، وشاهدنا وغائبنا ، وصغيرنا وكبيرنا ، وذكرنا وأنثانا . أللهم من أحييته منا فأحيه على الإسلام ، ومن توفيته منا فتوفه على الإيمان . أللهم لا تحرمنا أجره ولا تضلنا بعده.
“O Allah! Forgive our living and our dead, those present and those absent, our young and our old, our males and our females. O Allah! Whomever You keep alive among us, keep him alive upon Islam, and whomever You cause to die among us, cause him to die upon faith. O Allah! Do not deprive us of the reward of patience over the deceased, and do not put us to any trial after him.”
● Second Supplication:
أللهم اغفرله وارحمه، وعافه واعف عنه، وأكرم نزله ووسع مدخله ، واغسله بالماء والثلج والبرد ، ونقه من الخطايا كما نقيت الثوب الأبيض من الدنس، وأبدله دارا خيرا من داره ، وأهلا خيرا من أهله وزوجا خيرا من زوجه، وأدخله الجنة وأعذه من عذاب القبر (وقه فتنة القبر وعذاب النار)
“O Allah! Forgive him, have mercy on him, grant him well-being, pardon him, honour his hospitality, widen his grave, wash away his sins with water, hail and snow, cleanse him of sins as a white garment is cleansed of filth, give him a home better than his home in this world, people better than his people, and a spouse better than his spouse. Admit him into Paradise and protect him from the trial of the grave, the punishment of the grave and the punishment of Hell.”
● Third Supplication:
أللهم إن فلان بن فلان فى ذمتك وحبل جوارك ، فقه من فتنة القبر وعذاب النار ، وأنت أهل الوفاء والحق . اللهم اغفرله وارحمه إنك أنت الغفور الرحيم.
“O Allah! This is so-and-so son of so-and-so (name the deceased and his father) who is under Your protection and in the shelter of Your mercy. Protect him from the trial of the grave, the punishment of the grave and the punishment of the Fire. You are the Possessor of faithfulness and truth. So forgive him and have mercy on him; indeed You are the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.”
● Funeral Prayer for a Child:
Mughirah ibn Shu’bah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: The funeral prayer is to be offered even for a child born prematurely, and supplication for mercy and forgiveness is to be made for its parents.
● Supplication in the Funeral Prayer for a Child:
Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) would recite this supplication in the funeral prayer for a child:
اللهم اجعله لنا سلفا ، وفرطا ، وذخرا و اجرا
“O Allah! Make this child a forerunner for us, a precursor, a treasure, and a means of reward.”
● Important Issues Regarding the Funeral Prayer:
(1) Raising the hands (rafa’ al-yadayn) should be done with the additional takbirs. Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would raise his hands with every takbir of the funeral prayer.
(2) It is permissible to perform the funeral prayer both silently and aloud.
(3) It is also permissible to give one salam to one side in the funeral prayer.
(4) In the funeral prayer, the imam should stand opposite the head of a man and the middle of a woman.
