Reciting Talqeen at the Grave After Burial?

Written by: Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri

Reciting Talqeen to the deceased after burial is an evil and detestable innovation. There is no basis for it in the Quran and Hadith. This practice is not established from the Companions (رضی اللہ عنہ) or the trustworthy Tabi'un (رحمہم اللہ). It is an addition and excess in the complete and perfect religion and is a form of advancing ahead of Allah and His Messenger (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم):

Allah the Exalted says:

O you who have believed, do not proceed before Allah and His Messenger and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.

(Al-Hujurat: 1)

It should be noted that reciting Talqeen to the deceased after burial is not proven by any Shar'i evidence. Here is a scholarly and investigative analysis of the evidence presented by the innovators:

Evidence No. 1:​

It is narrated from Abu Saeed Khudri (رضی اللہ عنہ) that the Messenger of Allah (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) said:

"Instruct your dying ones to say: 'There is no deity but Allah.'"

(Musnad Ahmad: 3/3, Muslim: 1/300 Hadith: 916, Sunan Abi Dawood: 3117, Sunan Tirmidhi: 976, Sunan Nasai: 1828, Sunan Ibn Majah: 1445)

Commentary:

  1. There is consensus among Muslims that this Talqeen is to be made to the dying person, not to the deceased, as established by the practice of the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم). Anas (رضی اللہ عنہ) narrated:
"The Messenger of Allah (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) visited an Ansari man who was dying and said: 'O uncle, say: There is no deity but Allah.' He said: 'Uncle or aunt?' The Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) said: 'Yes, uncle.' He asked: 'Is it beneficial for me to say it?' The Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) said: 'Yes.'"

(Musnad Ahmad: 3/268 Hadith: 13862, and its chain is authentic)

Hafiz Haithami (رحمہ اللہ) states:

"It was narrated by Abu Ya'la (3512) and Al-Bazzar (787), and its narrators are narrators of the Sahih (Bukhari)."

(Majma' Al-Zawa'id: 2/325)

Buseeri states:

"It was narrated by Abu Ya'la and Al-Bazzar with an authentic chain."

(Ittihaf Al-Sada: 3/188)
  1. Imam Tirmidhi (رحمہ اللہ) set up a chapter under this Hadith as follows:
"Chapter on the instruction of the patient at the time of death and praying for him."

He writes:

"It was recommended to instruct the patient to say: There is no deity but Allah at the time of death. Some scholars said that if he says it once, he should not be instructed again unless he speaks afterward."

Evidence No. 2:​

Regarding the narrations attributed to the Tabi'un:

"When they would level the grave of the deceased and people would leave, they would consider it recommended to say at his grave: O so-and-so, say: There is no deity but Allah (three times). O so-and-so, say: My Lord is Allah, my religion is Islam, and my Prophet is Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم)."

(Sunan Saeed Ibn Mansoor, as quoted in Bulugh Al-Maram: 471)

Commentary:

Its chain is weak because it contains "Ashyakh min Ahl Hims" who are unknown and unnamed, making this narration unauthentic and unreliable.

Evidence No. 3:​

The narration from Al-Tabarani:

"It is narrated from Abu Umamah (رضی اللہ عنہ) that he said at the time of death: 'When I die, treat me as the Messenger of Allah (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) instructed us to treat our dead. The Messenger of Allah (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) instructed us: When one of our brothers dies and you level the soil over his grave, one of you should stand at his head and say: O so-and-so, son of so-and-so! Indeed, he will hear, although you cannot perceive. Then say: Remember what you departed from the world with: The testimony that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) is His servant and Messenger. Verily, Munkar and Nakir will take one of them by the hand and say: Let us leave, for we have no access to a person who has been instructed with his proof. Allah will be his protector against them.' A man asked: 'O Messenger of Allah! What if he does not know his mother's name?' He replied: 'Then attribute him to his mother Hawwa (Eve).'

(Al-Mu'jam Al-Kabir: 8/250 Hadith: 7979)

Commentary:

This narration is extremely weak because:

  1. Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Al-Ala Al-Himsi: About whom Muhammad bin Aouf said: "He used to steal Hadith."
  2. Abu Aqil Anas bin Muslim: His status is unknown.
  3. Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Qurashi: He is an unknown narrator.
  4. Sa'eed bin Abdullah Al-Awdi: His authentication is not found.
Hafiz Ibn Hajar (رحمہ اللہ) states:

"Its chain is acceptable, and Al-Diya has strengthened it in his Ahkam."

However, this is not correct as Hafiz Nawawi (رحمہ اللہ) writes:

"Its chain is weak, and Ibn Al-Salah said: Its chain is not strong."

(Sharh Al-Muhadhab: 5/304)

Hafiz Iraqi (رحمہ اللہ) also classified it as weak.

Allama San'ani (رحمہ اللہ) writes:


"The summary of the statements of the Imams of investigation is that this Hadith is weak, and acting upon it is an innovation. Do not be deceived by the large number of people who practice it."

(Subul Al-Salam: 2/161)

Its corroboration can be found in Qadi Al-Khalai's book "Al-Fawaid (2/55)" quoted in Al-Da'if by Al-Albani, where its chain is fabricated.

Shaykh Al-Albani (رحمہ اللہ) says:

"This Hadith is extremely weak. I did not recognize any of them except Utabah bin Al-Sakan, whom Al-Daraqutni said is abandoned in Hadith, and Al-Bayhaqi said is weak and attributed to fabrication."

(Silsilah Al-Ahadith Al-Da'ifah wal-Mawdouah: Hadith 599)

It is worth noting that both Deobandis and Barelvis agree on this innovation.

In defense of this innovation, Muhammad Sarfraz Khan Safdar Deobandi writes:

"However, reciting Talqeen after burial at the grave is a type of standing prayer at the grave, which is established from the Sunnah."

(Raah-e-Sunnat: 228)

Deobandis analogized Talqeen at the grave to prayer, and Barelvis to the Azan at the grave. However, neither Talqeen nor Azan at the grave is established in Sharia. Thus, likening one baseless act to another is a characteristic of the innovators.

Talqeen and the Imams of Hadith:

Abu Ja'far Al-Tustari
says:

"We were present with Abu Zur'ah while he was in the throes of death, and Abu Hatim, Muhammad bin Muslim, and others were also present. They remembered the Hadith of Talqeen and were shy of reciting it to him. So they said: Let us mention the Hadith. Muhammad bin Muslim started and said: Narrated to us by Dhahhak bin Mukhallad from Abdul Hamid bin Ja'far from Salih. He did not go further. Al-Mundhir said: Narrated to us by Abu Asim from Abdul Hamid from Salih. He did not go further. The rest were silent. Then Abu Zur'ah, while in the throes of death, said: Narrated to us by Bandar, narrated to us by Abu Asim, narrated to us by Abdul Hamid bin Ja'far from Salih bin Abi Areeb from Katheer bin Murrah from Mu'adh bin Jabal who said: The Messenger of Allah (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) said: 'Whoever's last words are "There is no deity but Allah" will enter Jannah.' He passed away after saying this."

(Ma'rifat Ulum Al-Hadith by Al-Hakim: 76, Tarikh Baghdad: 10/325, Taqaddumat Al-Jarh wa Al-Ta'dil: 345-346 with authentic chains)

Imam Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i said:

"When Alqamah fell seriously ill, he said: 'Seat someone beside me who will remind me of "There is no deity but Allah."'"

(Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah: 3/236, and its chain is authentic)

Ibrahim said about a man who became seriously ill:

"They would like him not to be left alone. They would come one after another, reminding him of 'There is no deity but Allah.'"

(Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah: 3/237, and its chain is authentic)

Hussain Al-Ja'fi said:

"I entered upon Al-A'mash on the day he died, and the house was full of men. An old man entered and said: 'Glory be to Allah! You see the man in his condition, and no one is reminding him?' Then Al-A'mash pointed with his index finger and moved his lips (indicating that he had recited the Shahada before his death)."

(Al-'Ilal wa Ma'rifat Al-Rijal by Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal: Hadith 3627, and its chain is authentic)

In summary, the evidence presented by the innovators for reciting Talqeen at the grave after burial is weak and unreliable. This practice is not established from the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم), the Companions, or the Tabi'un. Instead, it is an innovation that has no basis in the Shariah.
 
Back
Top