Sunan Ibn Majah
Chapters Regarding Funerals
كتاب الجنائز
Chapter 61
مَا جَاءَ فِيمَنْ مَاتَ غَرِيبًا
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Jamil ibn al-Hasan narrated to us: He said: Abu al-Mundhir Hudhayl ibn al-Hakam narrated to us: Abd al-Aziz ibn Abi Rawwad narrated to us, from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Dying as a stranger is martyrdom.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
‘مَوْتُ غُرْبَةٍ’ is rendered as dying as a stranger, preserving the compact wording without narrowing it to a particular kind of travel or exile.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Harmalah ibn Yahya narrated to us: He said: Abdullah ibn Wahb narrated to us: Huyayy ibn Abdullah al-Maafiri narrated to me, from Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Hubuli, from Abdullah ibn Amr, who said: A man who had been born in Medina died there. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the funeral prayer over him and said: ‘If only he had died somewhere other than his birthplace.’ A man among the people asked, ‘Why, Messenger of Allah?’ He replied: ‘When a man dies somewhere other than his birthplace, the distance from his birthplace to the end of his trail in Paradise is measured out for him.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
‘مُنْقَطَعِ أَثَرِهِ’ literally refers to where his trace or trail ends; it is translated closely as ‘the end of his trail’ without specifying how that endpoint is determined.
قَالَ: " إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ إِذَا مَاتَ فِي غَيْرِ مَوْلِدِهِ قِيسَ لَهُ مِنْ مَوْلِدِهِ إِلَى مُنْقَطَعِ أَثَرِهِ فِي الْجَنَّةِ " .
The expression ‘مُنْقَطَعِ أَثَرِهِ’ refers to the point where his trace or trail ends, but the source does not explain what determines that endpoint.
What does ‘مُنْقَطَعِ أَثَرِهِ’ designate in this description of the distance in Paradise? The translation retains the trail metaphor.
Chapter 62
مَا جَاءَ فِيمَنْ مَاتَ مَرِيضًا
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn Yusuf narrated to us: He said: Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us: He said: Ibn Jurayj informed us. (A second route:) Abu Ubaydah ibn Abi al-Safar narrated to us: He said: Hajjaj ibn Muhammad narrated to us: He said: Ibn Jurayj said, ‘Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Ata informed me,’ from Musa ibn Wardan, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Whoever dies while ill dies as a martyr, is protected from the trial of the grave, and is given his provision from Paradise morning and evening.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic marks a second route with ‘ح’; the second route continues through Hajjaj to Ibn Jurayj, who reports Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Ata. ‘غُدِيَ وَرِيحَ عَلَيْهِ بِرِزْقِهِ’ is rendered as being given his provision morning and evening.
Chapter 63
فِي النَّهْىِ عَنْ كَسْرِ، عِظَامِ الْمَيِّتِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hisham ibn Ammar narrated to us: He said: Abd al-Aziz ibn Muhammad al-Darawardi narrated to us: He said: Sad ibn Said narrated to us, from Amrah, from Aishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Breaking the bone of a deceased person is like breaking it while he is alive.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic uses the singular ‘عَظْم’ (a bone) and compares breaking it after death with breaking it while the person is alive; both are retained.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Mammar narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Bakr narrated to us: Abdullah ibn Ziyad narrated to us: Abu Ubaydah ibn Abdullah ibn Zamah informed me, from his mother, from Umm Salamah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: ‘Breaking the bone of a deceased person is like breaking the bone of a living person in sin.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
‘فِي الإِثْمِ’ explicitly limits the comparison to sin; it is retained at the end of the sentence. The chain passes from Abu Ubaydah through his mother to Umm Salamah.
Chapter 64
مَا جَاءَ فِي ذِكْرِ مَرَضِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Sahl ibn Abi Sahl narrated to us: Sufyan ibn Uyaynah narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah, who said: I asked Aishah, ‘Mother, tell me about the illness of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).’
She said: ‘He fell ill and continued to blow/spit. We began comparing his blowing to the blowing of someone eating raisins. He used to go around among his wives, but when his illness became severe, he asked their permission to stay in Aishah’s house and for them to take turns visiting him.’
She said: ‘The Messenger of Allah entered my room supported between two men, his feet dragging along the ground. One of them was al-Abbas.’ I related this to Ibn Abbas, and he said, ‘Do you know who the man was whom Aishah did not name? It was Ali ibn Abi Talib.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says the Prophet’s feet were dragging along the ground and names al-Abbas as one of the two men. Ibn Abbas, in a later comment, identifies the unnamed man as Ali ibn Abi Talib. The phrase ‘فَعَلَقَ يَنْفُثُ’ is unusual; ‘continued to blow/spit’ is provisional. The comparison to a person eating raisins is retained without adding an explanation about seeds.
قَالَتِ: اشْتَكَى فَعَلَقَ يَنْفُثُ فَجَعَلْنَا نُشَبِّهُ نَفْثَهُ بِنَفْثَةِ آكِلِ الزَّبِيبِ وَكَانَ يَدُورُ عَلَى نِسَائِهِ فَلَمَّا ثَقُلَ اسْتَأْذَنَهُنَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ فِي بَيْتِ عَائِشَةَ وَأَنْ يَدُرْنَ عَلَيْهِ .
The phrase ‘فَعَلَقَ يَنْفُثُ’ is unusual and the exact action conveyed by ‘عَلَقَ’ is unclear in this wording.
What is the intended sense of ‘فَعَلَقَ يَنْفُثُ’ here? The translation provisionally retains the continuing action of blowing/spitting.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Abu Muawiyah narrated to us, from al-A‘mash, from Muslim, from Masruq, from Aishah, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to seek refuge with these words: ‘Remove the affliction, Lord of mankind, and heal; You are the Healer. There is no healing except Your healing, a healing that leaves no illness.’ When the Prophet’s illness in which he died became severe, I took his hand and began wiping him with it while saying those words. He withdrew his hand from mine, then said: ‘O Allah, forgive me and join me with the Highest Companion.’ She said: That was the last of his speech that I heard from him (peace and blessings be upon him).
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase al-Rafiq al-A‘la is rendered ‘the Highest Companion,’ preserving the devotional expression.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Marwan al-Uthmani narrated to us; Ibrahim ibn Sa‘d narrated to us, from his father, from Urwah, from Aishah, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘No prophet suffers an illness except that he is given a choice between this world and the Hereafter.’ She said: When his illness in which he was taken (in death) came, hoarseness overcame him, and I heard him say: ‘With those whom Allah has favored: the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous.’ Then I knew that he had been given the choice.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
‘Hoarseness overcame him’ reflects the source wording that a hoarseness affected him; it is rendered without adding a medical explanation.
‘The truthful’ renders al-siddiqin, retaining the source’s category wording.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Abdullah ibn Numayr narrated to us, from Zakariyya, from Firas, from Amir, from Masruq, from Aishah, who said: The wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gathered, and not one of them was absent. Fatimah came, walking as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) walked. He said, ‘Welcome, my daughter,’ then seated her to his left. He whispered something to her, and Fatimah wept. Then he spoke privately to her again, and she laughed as well. I asked her, ‘What makes you weep?’ She said, ‘I would never disclose the Messenger of Allah’s secret.’ I said, ‘I have never seen joy so close to grief as today.’ When she wept, I said to her, ‘Did the Messenger of Allah single you out with something he told you and not us, and then you weep?’ I asked her what he had said, but she replied, ‘I would never disclose the Messenger of Allah’s secret.’ When he had passed away, I asked her what he had said. She replied: ‘He used to tell me that Jibril would review the Quran with him once each year, but this year he reviewed it with him twice. I can only think that my appointed time has come, and that you will be the first of my family to join me. What an excellent predecessor I will be for you.’ I wept. Then he spoke privately to me again and said, ‘Would you not be pleased to be the foremost of the believing women—or the women of this community?’ I laughed at that.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source preserves the alternative wording ‘the believing women—or the women of this community’; both are retained.
The phrase ‘What an excellent predecessor I will be for you’ renders نعم السلف أنا لك closely, without expanding its implication.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Numayr narrated to us; Mus‘ab ibn al-Miqdam narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us, from al-A‘mash, from Shaqiq, from Masruq, who said: Aishah said: I have never seen anyone suffer pain more severely than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Yunus ibn Muhammad narrated to us; al-Layth ibn Sa‘d narrated to us, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Musa ibn Sarjis, from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, from Aishah, who said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as he was dying. There was beside him a cup containing water. He would put his hand into the cup, then wipe his face with the water, and say: ‘O Allah, help me through the agonies of death.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source says a vessel (qadah) of water; ‘cup’ preserves the ordinary sense without specifying its material or size.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hisham ibn Ammar narrated to us; Sufyan ibn Uyaynah narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, who heard Anas ibn Malik say: The last time I looked at the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was when the curtain was lifted on Monday. I looked at his face, and it was as though it were a page of a mushaf. The people were praying behind Abu Bakr. The Prophet wanted to move, but gestured to him to remain in place. Then he let the curtain fall, and he died toward the end of that day.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The comparison ‘a page of a mushaf’ is retained as phrased in the Arabic, without supplying an interpretation of the simile.
‘Toward the end of that day’ follows the source’s wording; no more specific time is added.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us; Hammam narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Salih Abu al-Khalil, from Safinah, from Umm Salamah, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say during the illness in which he died: ‘The prayer, and those whom your right hands possess.’ He continued saying it until his tongue could no longer articulate it.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The paired wording ‘the prayer, and those whom your right hands possess’ is retained closely, without supplying an explanatory interpretation.
The closing phrase is rendered as his tongue no longer being able to articulate the words.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Isma‘il ibn Ulayyah narrated to us, from Ibn Awn, from Ibrahim, from al-Aswad, who said: In Aishah’s presence, they mentioned that Ali had been a legatee. She said: ‘When did he make a bequest entrusting anything to him? I was supporting him against my chest—or, she said, in my lap—when he asked for a basin. He slumped over in my lap and died, and I did not realize it. So when did he (peace and blessings be upon him) make a bequest to him?’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source’s wording that Ali was a wasiyy is rendered ‘a legatee’; the report’s claim is preserved without adding a broader interpretation.
The alternative locations ‘against my chest—or in my lap’ are retained as given.
فَلَقَدْ كُنْتُ مُسْنِدَتَهُ إِلَى صَدْرِي - أَوْ إِلَى حِجْرِي فَدَعَا بِطَسْتٍ فَلَقَدِ انْخَنَثَ فِي حِجْرِي فَمَاتَ وَمَا شَعَرْتُ بِهِ.
The rare verb انخنث describes what happened in Aishah’s lap; ‘slumped over’ preserves the bodily movement without specifying more precisely how he fell.
Does ‘slumped over’ adequately preserve the source verb’s sense here?
Chapter 65
ذِكْرِ وَفَاتِهِ وَدَفْنِهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Abu Muawiyah narrated to us, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, from Ibn Abi Mulaykah, from Aishah, who said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, Abu Bakr was with his wife, the daughter of Kharijah, in al-Awali. People began saying, ‘The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has not died; this is only one of the states that used to come over him during revelation.’ Abu Bakr came, uncovered his face, kissed him between the eyes, and said, ‘You are too honored in Allah’s sight for Him to cause you to die twice. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has indeed died.’ Umar was at one side of the mosque, saying, ‘By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has not died, and he will not die until he has cut off the hands and feet of many hypocrites.’ Abu Bakr stood, ascended the pulpit, and said: ‘Whoever worships Allah, Allah is Living and does not die; and whoever worships Muhammad, Muhammad has indeed died.’ Then he recited: ‘Muhammad is only a messenger; messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? Whoever turns back on his heels will not harm Allah in any way, and Allah will reward the grateful.’ Umar said: ‘It was as though I had never recited it until that day.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The place-name al-Awali and the wording about the states that came over the Prophet during revelation are retained without adding geographic or medical explanation.
The Qur’anic passage is translated from the Arabic included in the source text.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Nasr ibn Ali al-Jahdami narrated to us; Wahb ibn Jarir informed us; my father narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, who narrated to me from Husayn ibn Abdullah, from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas, who said: When they decided to dig a grave for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), they sent for Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, who dug a shaft grave like those of the people of Mecca. They also sent for Abu Talhah, who dug graves for the people of Medina and made a side niche. They sent two messengers to them and said, ‘O Allah, choose what is best for Your Messenger.’ They found Abu Talhah and brought him, but Abu Ubaydah was not found, so Abu Talhah made a side niche for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
When they had finished preparing him on Tuesday, he was placed on his bed in his house. People entered to pray over the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in groups. When they had finished, the women were admitted, then, when they had finished, the children were admitted. No one led the people in prayer over the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Muslims differed about the place where he should be buried: some said he should be buried in his mosque, and others said he should be buried with his Companions. Abu Bakr said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: “No prophet is taken in death except that he is buried where he is taken in death.”’ They then lifted the bed on which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had died and dug for him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was buried in the middle of the night of Wednesday.
Ali ibn Abi Talib, al-Fadl and Qutham, the two sons of al-Abbas, and Shuqaran, the freedman of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), descended into his grave. Aws ibn Khawli, who was Abu Layla, said to Ali ibn Abi Talib, ‘I adjure you by Allah: let us have our share in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).’ Ali said to him, ‘Come down.’ Shuqaran, his freedman, had taken a velvet covering that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wear. He buried it in the grave and said, ‘By Allah, no one will ever wear it after you.’ It was buried with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source distinguishes the shaft grave associated here with the people of Mecca from the side niche associated with Medina; those distinctions are kept in the translation.
The wording ‘our share in the Messenger of Allah’ is retained without specifying what form of participation Aws requested.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Nasr ibn Ali narrated to us; Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, Abu al-Zubayr, narrated to us; Thabit al-Bunani narrated to us, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) experienced the distress of death, Fatimah said, ‘Oh, the distress of my father!’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘There will be no distress for your father after today. What has come upon your father is something no one will be spared from—the meeting on the Day of Resurrection.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source links an inescapable event to ‘the meeting on the Day of Resurrection’; the translation preserves that wording without specifying its fuller sense.
فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لاَ كَرْبَ عَلَى أَبِيكِ بَعْدَ الْيَوْمِ إِنَّهُ قَدْ حَضَرَ مِنْ أَبِيكِ مَا لَيْسَ بِتَارِكٍ مِنْهُ أَحَدًا الْمُوَافَاةُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ " .
The closing noun الموافاة can denote arrival or meeting, and its syntactic relation to the statement that no one will be spared is compressed.
Does ‘the meeting on the Day of Resurrection’ preserve the intended force of الموافاة here without over-interpreting it?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Abu Usamah narrated to us; Hammad ibn Zayd narrated to me; Thabit narrated to me, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: Fatimah said to me, ‘O Anas, how could you bring yourselves to shovel earth over the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?’
Thabit also narrated to us, from Anas, that Fatimah said when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away: ‘O my father! To Jibril I announce your death! O my father, how near you are to your Lord! O my father, the Garden of al-Firdaws is your abode! O my father, you answered a Lord who called you!’ Hammad said: I saw Thabit, when he narrated this hadith, weeping until I saw his ribs move.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The second report has an elegiac, rhyming form; the repeated address is retained, while rhyme is not forced in English.
The first line of the elegy is translated closely; its compressed expression concerning Jibril remains open to review.
قَالَتْ حِينَ قُبِضَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ وَا أَبَتَاهْ إِلَى جِبْرَائِيلَ أَنْعَاهْ وَا أَبَتَاهْ مِنْ رَبِّهِ مَا أَدْنَاهْ وَا أَبَتَاهْ جَنَّةُ الْفِرْدَوْسِ مَأْوَاهْ وَا أَبَتَاهْ أَجَابَ رَبًّا دَعَاهْ .
In the elegiac phrase إلى جبريل أنعاه, the first-person verb appears to mean announcing or lamenting his death to Jibril, but the compressed poetic construction leaves the relation unclear.
Does ‘To Jibril I announce your death’ preserve the line’s intended meaning, or is another reading warranted?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Bishr ibn Hilal al-Sawaf narrated to us; Ja‘far ibn Sulayman al-Duba‘i narrated to us; Thabit narrated to us, from Anas, who said: On the day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Medina, everything in it was illuminated. When the day on which he died came, everything in it grew dark. We had not yet shaken the dust from our hands after the Prophet’s burial when our hearts had become strange to us.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final clause is translated closely: the Arabic says they no longer recognized their hearts, without specifying the exact feeling meant.
وَمَا نَفَضْنَا عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ الأَيْدِيَ حَتَّى أَنْكَرْنَا قُلُوبَنَا .
The phrase أنكرنا قلوبنا literally speaks of no longer recognizing their hearts; the intended emotional nuance is not specified.
Does ‘our hearts had become strange to us’ preserve the source’s meaning without narrowing its emotional sense?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us; Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi informed us; Sufyan narrated to us, from Abdullah ibn Dinar, from Ibn Umar, who said: During the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we used to refrain from speaking freely and being at ease with our wives, for fear that Quran might be revealed about us. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) died, we began to speak.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source pairs speaking with being at ease or familiar with one’s wives; the translation keeps both expressions without specifying physical intimacy.