Sunan Ibn Majah
Chapters Regarding Funerals
كتاب الجنائز
Chapter 5
مَا جَاءَ فِي الْمُؤْمِنِ يُؤْجَرُ فِي النَّزْعِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Rawh ibn al-Faraj narrated to us; Nasr ibn Hammad narrated to us; Musa ibn Kardam narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Qays, from Abu Burdah, from Abu Musa, who said: ‘I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), “When does a servant cease recognizing people?” He replied, “When he sees [it].”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final phrase is elliptical in Arabic: ‘when he sees.’ The object is not stated in this wording, so no object has been supplied in the translation.
Chapter 6
مَا جَاءَ فِي تَغْمِيضِ الْمَيِّتِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Isma‘il ibn Asad narrated to us; Mu‘awiyah ibn Amr narrated to us; Abu Ishaq al-Fazari narrated to us, from Khalid al-Hadhdha’, from Abu Qilabah, from Qabisah ibn Dhu’ayb, from Umm Salamah, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Abu Salamah while his eyes were fixed open. He closed them, then said, “When the soul is taken, the sight follows it.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The wording describes Abu Salamah’s eyes as fixed open; the Prophet then closed them.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn Tawbah narrated to us; Asim ibn Ali narrated to us; Qaza‘ah ibn Suwayd narrated to us, from Humayd al-A‘raj, from al-Zuhri, from Mahmud ibn Labid, from Shaddad ibn Aws, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘When you are present with your dead, close their eyes, for sight follows the soul. And say what is good, for the angels say “Amen” to what the members of the household say.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report links the instruction to close the eyes with the statement that sight follows the soul, and says the angels affirm the household’s good words.
Chapter 7
مَا جَاءَ فِي تَقْبِيلِ الْمَيِّتِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah and Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us; they said: Waki‘ narrated to us, from Sufyan, from Asim ibn Ubaydullah, from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, from Aishah, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kissed Uthman ibn Maz‘un when he had died. It is as though I can see his tears streaming down his cheeks.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final phrase is Aishah’s vivid recollection of the tears she witnessed.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn Sinan, al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Azim, and Sahl ibn Abi Sahl narrated to us; they said: Yahya ibn Sa‘id narrated to us, from Sufyan, from Musa ibn Abi Aishah, from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah, from Ibn Abbas and Aishah: ‘Abu Bakr kissed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he had died.’
Chapter 8
مَا جَاءَ فِي غُسْلِ الْمَيِّتِ
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; Abd al-Wahhab al-Thaqafi narrated to us, from Ayyub, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, from Umm Atiyyah, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us while we were washing his daughter Umm Kulthum. He said, “Wash her three times, or five, or more if you think that is needed, using water and lote leaves. Put camphor, or some camphor, in the final wash. When you have finished, let me know.” When we had finished, we informed him, and he gave us his waist-wrapper and said, “Wrap her with it next to her body.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source offers three, five, or more washes at the women’s discretion, specifies camphor for the final wash, and says to use his waist-wrapper as the next-to-skin garment.
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; Abd al-Wahhab al-Thaqafi narrated to us, from Ayyub, who said: Hafsah narrated to me, from Umm Atiyyah, a report similar to Muhammad’s. Hafsah’s report included: ‘Wash her an odd number of times’; ‘Wash her three or five times’; and ‘Begin with her right side and the parts washed in ablution.’ It also relates that Umm Atiyyah said, ‘We combed her hair into three braids.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This is a variant account and its distinct instructions are retained as given: an odd number, three or five washes, starting on the right and at the ablution areas, and three braids.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Bishr ibn Adam narrated to us; Rawh ibn Ubadah narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayj, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from Asim ibn Damrah, from Ali, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: ‘Do not expose your thigh, and do not look at the thigh of anyone, living or dead.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn al-Musayyab al-Himsi narrated to us; Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid narrated to us, from Mubashshir ibn Ubayd, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from Abdullah ibn Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Let trustworthy people wash your dead.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic is a brief instruction identifying the people who should wash the deceased as those who are trustworthy.
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; Abd al-Rahman al-Muharibi narrated to us; Abbad ibn Kathir narrated to us, from Amr ibn Khalid, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from Asim ibn Damrah, from Ali, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Whoever washes a deceased person, shrouds him, applies burial perfume to him, carries him, and performs the funeral prayer over him, without disclosing what he saw, will emerge from his sins as on the day his mother gave birth to him.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source lists five acts and the condition that the person not disclose what he saw while caring for the deceased.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Abi al-Shawarib narrated to us; Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Mukhtar narrated to us, from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Whoever washes a deceased person, let him perform a ritual bath.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source gives a directive to perform ghusl after washing a deceased person; it does not elaborate on the ruling.
Chapter 9
مَا جَاءَ فِي غُسْلِ الرَّجُلِ امْرَأَتَهُ وَغُسْلِ الْمَرْأَةِ زَوْجَهَا
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us; Ahmad ibn Khalid al-Wahbi narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Abbad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, from his father, from Aishah, who said: ‘If I had known then what I know now, no one would have washed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) except his wives.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The statement is a counterfactual about who would have washed him; the negation and exception are preserved.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us; Ahmad ibn Hanbal narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from Ya‘qub ibn Utbah, from al-Zuhri, from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah, from Aishah, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned from al-Baqi‘ and found me with a headache, saying, “Oh, my head!” He said, “Rather, I should say, ‘Oh, my head!’ too, Aishah.” Then he said, “What harm would it do you if you died before me, so that I could attend to you, wash you, shroud you, perform the funeral prayer over you, and bury you?”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report preserves the exchange about their headaches and the conditional wording of the Prophet’s statement.
Chapter 10
مَا جَاءَ فِي غُسْلِ النَّبِيِّ 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.
Sa‘id ibn Yahya ibn al-Azhar al-Wasiti narrated to us; Abu Mu‘awiyah narrated to us; Abu Burdah narrated to us, from Alqamah ibn Marthad, from Ibn Buraydah, from his father, who said: ‘When they began washing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), a caller called to them from inside: “Do not remove the Messenger of Allah’s shirt.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source reports an unidentified caller ‘from inside’; the caller’s identity is not supplied.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Yahya ibn Khidham narrated to us; Safwan ibn Isa narrated to us; Ma‘mar informed us, from al-Zuhri, from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab, from Ali ibn Abi Talib, who said: ‘When he washed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he went to look for what one normally looks for on a deceased person, but found nothing. He said, “May my father be your ransom! How pure you were in life and how pure you are in death.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic does not specify what was sought on the deceased; the translation leaves it unspecified.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abbad ibn Ya‘qub narrated to us; al-Husayn ibn Zayd ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali narrated to us, from Isma‘il ibn Abdullah ibn Ja‘far, from his father, from Ali, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘When I die, wash me with seven water-skins from my well, the Well of Ghars.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source specifies seven water-skins from the Well of Ghars.
Chapter 11
مَا جَاءَ فِي كَفَنِ النَّبِيِّ 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.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Hafs ibn Ghiyath narrated to us, from Hisham ibn Urwah, from his father, from Aishah: ‘The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was shrouded in three white Yemeni cloths, with neither a shirt nor a turban among them.’ Someone said to Aishah, ‘They used to claim that he had been shrouded in a Hibarah garment.’ She replied, ‘A Hibarah cloak was brought, but he was not shrouded in it.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source distinguishes the three cloths used for the shroud from a Hibarah cloak that was brought but not used.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Khalaf al-Asqalani narrated to us; Amr ibn Abi Salamah said: ‘This is what I heard from Abu Mu‘ayd, Hafs ibn Ghilan, from Sulayman ibn Musa, from Nafi‘, from Abdullah ibn Umar: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was shrouded in three white Sahuli cloths.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The narrator’s introductory words ‘This is what I heard’ are retained before the chain and report. The textile adjective Sahuli is transliterated.
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; Abdullah ibn Idris narrated to us, from Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad, from al-Hakam, from Miqsam, from Ibn Abbas, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was shrouded in three garments: the shirt in which he died and a Najrani hullah.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report says ‘three garments’ but names only the shirt and a Najrani hullah in this wording; both the stated number and the listed items are preserved.
Hullah is retained as a garment name.
Chapter 12
مَا جَاءَ فِيمَا يُسْتَحَبُّ مِنَ الْكَفَنِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah narrated to us; Abdullah ibn Raja’ al-Makki informed us, from Abdullah ibn Uthman ibn Khuthaym, from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘The best of your clothing is white. Shroud your dead in it and wear it.’