Funerals (Kitab Al-Jana'iz)

Amir al-Rami reported: I was in our land when banners and standards were raised. I asked what they were, and was told, “This is the banner of the Messenger of Allah.” I went to him and found him seated beneath a tree on a spread cloth, with his Companions gathered around him. I joined them. The Messenger of Allah spoke of illnesses: “When a believer is afflicted by illness and Allah restores him, it atones for past sins and admonishes him for what lies ahead. But when a hypocrite falls ill and recovers, he is like a camel tethered by its owners and then released, not knowing why it was tethered or released.” A man nearby said, “Messenger of Allah, what are illnesses? By Allah, I have never been ill.” The Messenger of Allah said, “Get up and leave us; you are not one of us.” While we were there, another man came wearing a cloak and carrying something wrapped in his hand. He said, “When I saw you, I came toward you. I passed through a thicket and heard the cries of young birds. I took them and placed them in my cloak. Their mother came and circled over my head. I uncovered them for her, and she settled among them. I wrapped them together in my cloak, and here they are with me.” The Prophet said, “Set them down.” The man did so, but their mother would not leave them. The Messenger of Allah asked his Companions, “Are you amazed by the mother bird compassion for her chicks?” They said yes. He said, “By the One who sent me with the truth, Allah is more merciful to His servants than this mother is to her chicks. Return them to where you found them, with their mother.” The man returned them.

A Companion of the Messenger of Allah reported: I heard him say, “When Allah has decreed a rank for a servant that the servant cannot reach through his deeds, Allah tests him in his body, wealth, or children.” Abu Dawud said that Ibn Nufayl added: “Then He grants him patience through it.” Both versions continue: “until He brings him to the rank Allah, exalted is He, had decreed for him.”

Abu Musa reported: I heard the Prophet say repeatedly, “When a servant regularly performs a good deed but illness or travel keeps him from it, the deed he used to perform while healthy and settled at home is recorded for him.”

Umm al-Ala reported: The Messenger of Allah visited me while I was ill and said, “Rejoice, Umm al-Ala. Through a Muslim illness, Allah removes sins as fire removes the dross from gold and silver.”

Aishah said: I told the Messenger of Allah, “I know the verse in the Quran that is most severe.” He asked, “Which verse, Aishah?” She replied, “Allah Most High words: Whoever does evil will be requited for it.” He said, “Do you not know, Aishah, that when a believer is struck by a calamity or even a thorn, he is requited for the worst of his deeds, and whoever is subjected to a reckoning is punished?” She asked, “Does Allah not say: He will be given an easy reckoning?” He replied, “That is only the presentation of the account, Aishah. Whoever is closely examined in the reckoning is punished.” Abu Dawud said that this is Ibn Bashshar wording, who said that Ibn Abi Mulaykah reported it to us.

Usamah ibn Zayd reported: The Messenger of Allah went to visit Abdullah ibn Ubayy during the illness in which he died. On entering, he recognized that death was near and said, “I used to warn you against loving the Jews.” Abdullah replied, “Asad ibn Zurarah hated them. So what?” After Abdullah died, his son said, “Messenger of Allah, Abdullah ibn Ubayy has died. Give me your shirt so I can shroud him in it.” The Messenger of Allah took off his shirt and gave it to him.

Anas reported: A Jewish boy became ill, and the Prophet visited him and sat by his head. He said, “Become a Muslim.” The boy looked at his father, who was sitting by his head. His father said, “Obey Abu al-Qasim.” The boy became a Muslim, and the Prophet stood up saying, “Praise be to Allah, who has saved him from the Fire through me.”

Jabir reported: The Prophet used to visit me without riding a mule or a pony.

Anas ibn Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “Whoever performs ablution well and visits his Muslim brother seeking reward from Allah will be kept at a distance of seventy years journey from Hell.” I asked Abu Hamzah what kharif meant, and he replied, “A year.” Abu Dawud said this wording about visiting while in a state of ablution was narrated uniquely by the Basrans.

Ali said: “When a man visits a sick person in the evening, seventy thousand angels accompany him, praying for his forgiveness until morning, and he will have a kharif in Paradise. Whoever visits in the morning has seventy thousand angels accompany him, praying for his forgiveness until evening, and will have a kharif in Paradise.”

A report from Ali gives the same meaning but does not mention kharif. Abu Dawud said Mansur narrated it from al-Hakam Abu Hafs as Shubah did.

Abu Jafar Abdullah ibn Nafi reported: Abu Musa came to visit al-Hasan ibn Ali when he was ill. Abu Dawud said this report has the same meaning as Shubah version. He also said it is soundly transmitted from Ali, from the Prophet, through several routes.

Aishah reported: On the day of the Trench, when Saad ibn Muadh was wounded by a man who struck his akhal vein with an arrow, the Messenger of Allah set up a tent for him in the mosque so he could visit him nearby.

Zayd ibn Arqam reported: The Messenger of Allah visited me when I had pain in my eyes.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf reported from Ibn Abbas: I heard the Messenger of Allah say, “If you hear of the plague in a land, do not go there. If it breaks out in a land while you are there, do not leave it fleeing from the plague.”

Aishah bint Sad reported from her father: I fell ill in Mecca, and the Prophet came to visit me. He placed his hand on my forehead, then wiped my chest and stomach and said, “O Allah, heal Sad and complete his emigration.”

Abu Musa al-Ashari reported that the Messenger of Allah said: “Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and release the captive.” Sufyan explained that al-ani means a captive.

Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet said: “Whoever visits a sick person whose appointed time has not come, and says seven times in his presence, I ask Allah the Almighty, Lord of the Mighty Throne, to heal you, Allah will grant him recovery from that illness.”

Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As reported that the Prophet said: “When someone comes to visit a sick person, let him say: O Allah, heal Your servant so that he may strike an enemy for Your sake or walk to a funeral for Your sake.” Abu Dawud said that Ibn al-Sarh version has “to a prayer” instead of “to a funeral.”