Funerals

Abu Hurayra reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning the funeral prayer: ‘O Allah, You are its Lord; You created it and guided it to Islam; You took its soul, and You know its secret and its outward. We have come as intercessors, so forgive him.’ Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Said ibn al-Musayyib reported: I prayed behind Abu Hurayra over a boy who had never committed a sin, and I heard him say, ‘O Allah, protect him from the punishment of the grave.’ Malik transmitted it.

Al-Bukhari mentions in a suspended report: Al-Hasan recites the Opening of the Book over a child and says, ‘O Allah, make him a predecessor for us, one who goes ahead, a treasure, and a reward.’

Jabir reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘A child is not prayed over, does not inherit, and is not inherited from until the child cries aloud.’ Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, except that Ibn Majah did not mention ‘nor is inherited from.’

Abu Masud al-Ansari reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade the imam to stand on something elevated while the people stood behind him—that is, below him. Al-Daraqutni and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Amir ibn Saad ibn Abi Waqqas reported that Saad ibn Abi Waqqas said during the illness in which he died, ‘Make a side niche for me in the grave, and set bricks upright over me, as was done for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.’ Muslim transmitted it.

Ibn Abbas reported: A red velvet covering was placed in the grave of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Muslim transmitted it.

Sufyan al-Tammar reported that he saw the grave of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, raised in a rounded mound. Al-Bukhari transmitted it.

Abu al-Hayyaj al-Asadi reported: Ali said to me, ‘Shall I not send you on the same mission on which the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sent me: leave no image without obliterating it, and no raised grave without levelling it.’ Muslim transmitted it.

Jabir reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade plastering graves, building over them, and sitting on them. Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Marthad al-Ghanawi reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘Do not sit on graves or pray toward them.’ Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘It is better for one of you to sit on a glowing coal that burns through his clothes and reaches his skin than to sit on a grave.’ Muslim transmitted it.

Urwa ibn al-Zubayr reported: In Medina there were two men, one who made a side niche in the grave and another who did not. They said, ‘Whichever of the two comes first may do his customary work.’ The man who made a side niche came and made one for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. It is reported in Sharh al-Sunnah.

Ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘The side niche is for us, and the straight trench is for others.’ Al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Majah transmitted it. Ahmad transmitted it from Jarir ibn Abdullah.

Hisham ibn Amir reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said on the day of Uhud, ‘Dig, make the graves spacious, make them deep, and make them well. Bury two or three in one grave, and place first the one who knew most of the Quran.’ Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and al-Nasai transmitted it. Ibn Majah transmitted it only up to ‘and make them well.’

Jabir reported: On the day of Uhud, my paternal aunt brought my father to bury him in our cemetery. A caller of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, called out, ‘Return those killed to their resting places.’ Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, al-Nasai, and al-Darimi transmitted it; the wording is al-Tirmidhi’s.

Ibn Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was lowered into the grave headfirst. Al-Shafii transmitted it.

Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, entered a grave at night. A lamp was lit for him, and he took from the direction of the qibla and said, ‘May Allah have mercy on you, if you were one given to fervent supplication and frequent recitation of the Quran.’ Al-Tirmidhi transmitted it. In Sharh al-Sunnah it says, ‘Its chain of transmission is weak.’

Ibn Umar reported that when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, placed the deceased in the grave, he would say, ‘In the name of Allah, with Allah, and upon the milla of the Messenger of Allah.’ In another version: ‘And upon the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.’ Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah transmitted it; Abu Dawud transmitted the second version.

Jaafar ibn Muhammad reported from his father, in mursal form, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, cast three handfuls of earth over the deceased, both his hands together; he sprinkled over the grave of his son Ibrahim and placed pebbles on it. It is reported in Sharh al-Sunnah. Al-Shafii transmitted from the words ‘he sprinkled.’