When Should Talqīn Be Given to a Dying Person?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Question:
When should talqīn (prompting of the kalimah) be given?
Answer:
The consensus of the Muslim Ummah is that talqīn should be given when a person is near death, not after death. The blessed practice of the Prophet ﷺ indicates this.
❀ Sayyidunā Anas رضي الله عنه narrates:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ visited an Ansārī for his illness. He said: “Maternal uncle! Recite Lā ilāha illā Allāh.” The man asked: “Maternal uncle or paternal uncle?” The Prophet ﷺ replied: “Maternal uncle.” The man then asked: “Will saying Lā ilāha illā Allāh be of benefit to me?” The Prophet ﷺ replied: “Yes.”
(Musnad Aḥmad 3/268, with an authentic chain)
❀ Imām al-Tirmidhī رحمه الله (279 AH) established a chapter:
باب ما جاء فى تلقين المريض عند الموت، والدعاء له عنده
(The chapter regarding talqīn for the sick at the time of death, and supplication for him.)
He further writes:
It is recommended (mustaḥabb) to prompt the dying person with Lā ilāha illā Allāh. Some scholars say that once talqīn is given, it should not be repeated unless the dying person speaks again. Excessive repetition should also be avoided.
(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, under ḥadīth: 977)
❀ Imām Ibn Ḥibbān رحمه الله (354 AH) established a chapter:
ذكر الأمر بتلقين الشهادة من حضرته المنية
(Command of prompting shahādah to the one facing death.)
(Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān, before ḥadīth: 3003)
❀ Al-ʿAllāmah Abūl-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī رحمه الله (656 AH) writes:
The meaning of the Prophet’s ﷺ statement, “Prompt your dying ones with Lā ilāha illā Allāh”, is to remind them at the time of death. The Prophet ﷺ referred to them as “dying ones” because death has already approached them. Prompting the dying with this kalimah is an established Sunnah, and the Ummah has acted upon it. The purpose is that the last words of the dying person be Lā ilāha illā Allāh, so that he may depart this world with good fortune. Such a person enters under the general statement of the Prophet ﷺ: whoever’s last words are Lā ilāha illā Allāh shall enter Paradise.
(Al-Mufhim 2/569-570; see also: Zahr al-Rubā by al-Suyūṭī, p. 514)
❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-Nawawī رحمه الله (676 AH) writes:
This means that the dying person should be reminded of Lā ilāha illā Allāh, so that it becomes his last words. The ḥadīth says: “Whoever’s last words are Lā ilāha illā Allāh shall enter Paradise.”
(Sunan Abū Dāwūd: 3112, with a sound chain; authenticated by Imām al-Ḥākim (1/351), with al-Dhahabī’s agreement; also declared authentic by Ibn al-Mulaqqin (Al-Badr al-Munīr 5/189))
Thus, talqīn is recommended (mustahabb) and scholars have consensus upon this method.
❀ The author of al-Hidāyah writes:
المراد الذى قرب من الموت
The intended meaning is the person who is near death.
(Al-Hidāyah, p. 136, Kitāb al-Janāʾiz)
❀ The commentator of al-Hidāyah clarifies:
This is to refute those who mistakenly think that talqīn refers to reciting over the grave.
(Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1/300)
❀ Al-ʿAllāmah al-Sindī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (1138 AH) writes:
The intended meaning is the dying person, not the one already deceased. The method of talqīn is not to command the person directly, but rather to mention the kalimah near him. Many scholars have declared talqīn at the grave as an innovation (bidʿah). The objective of talqīn is that the dying person’s end should be upon the kalimah of tawḥīd. For this reason, once he says Lā ilāha illā Allāh, he should not be prompted again unless he speaks of something else.
(Ḥāshiyat al-Sindī ʿalā al-Nasāʾī 4/5, under ḥadīth: 1827)
Conclusion: From the statements of the scholars, it is clear that talqīn with Lā ilāha illā Allāh is to be done for the one who is near death, not for the buried deceased. Understand this properly and do not fall into confusion.
