Is It Correct to Call the Deceased “O Tranquil Soul”?
(Source: Fatawa Arkan al-Islam)
When a Muslim passes away, some people recite the following verses from Sūrah al-Fajr:
﴿يـأَيَّتُهَا النَّفسُ المُطمَئِنَّةُ ﴿٢٧﴾ ارجِعى إِلى رَبِّكِ راضِيَةً مَرضِيَّةً ﴿٢٨﴾…سورة الفجر
"O tranquil soul! Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing to Him."
What is the Sharʿi ruling on this practice? Is it permissible to apply these verses to a specific person?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
✿ It is not permissible to apply these verses to a specific individual.
✿ The reason is that doing so is effectively a testimony that the deceased is certainly among those specific people mentioned in these verses of the Qur’an.
✿ Reciting these verses for a deceased person amounts to tazkiyah (declaring someone pure) and a definitive witness statement that they are among those to whom these words will be said at the time of death.
✿ In Shariah, it is not allowed to affirm with certainty that a person is from the people of Paradise or is someone whom Allah is pleased with — unless there is clear evidence from Qur’an or Sunnah, as is the case for certain Prophets or Companions who have explicit textual confirmation.
ھٰذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
(Source: Fatawa Arkan al-Islam)
❖ Question
When a Muslim passes away, some people recite the following verses from Sūrah al-Fajr:
﴿يـأَيَّتُهَا النَّفسُ المُطمَئِنَّةُ ﴿٢٧﴾ ارجِعى إِلى رَبِّكِ راضِيَةً مَرضِيَّةً ﴿٢٨﴾…سورة الفجر
"O tranquil soul! Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing to Him."
What is the Sharʿi ruling on this practice? Is it permissible to apply these verses to a specific person?
❖ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
✿ It is not permissible to apply these verses to a specific individual.
✿ The reason is that doing so is effectively a testimony that the deceased is certainly among those specific people mentioned in these verses of the Qur’an.
✿ Reciting these verses for a deceased person amounts to tazkiyah (declaring someone pure) and a definitive witness statement that they are among those to whom these words will be said at the time of death.
✿ In Shariah, it is not allowed to affirm with certainty that a person is from the people of Paradise or is someone whom Allah is pleased with — unless there is clear evidence from Qur’an or Sunnah, as is the case for certain Prophets or Companions who have explicit textual confirmation.
ھٰذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
