The Book of Prayer - Funerals

كتاب الجنائز

Chapter 9: The deceased is tormented because of his family's crying for him

Hisham narrated on the authority of his father that it was mentioned to 'A'isha that Ibn 'Umar had narrated as marfu' hadith from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that the dead would be punished in the grave because of the lamentation of his family for him. Upon this she said

He (Ibn 'Umar) missed (the point). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had (in fact) said: He (the dead) is punished for his faults or for his sins, and the members of his family are wailing for him now. (This misunderstanding of Ibn 'Umar is similar to his saying: ) The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood by the well in which were lying the dead bodies of those polytheists who had been killed on the Day of Badr, and he said to them what he had to say, i. e.: They hear what I say. But he (Ibn 'Umar) misunderstood. The Prophet (ﷺ) had only said: They (the dead) understand that what I used to say to them was truth. She then recited:" Certainly, thou canst not make the dead hear the call" (xxvii. 80), nor can you make those hear who are in the graves, nor can you inform them when they have taken their seats in Hell.

'Ali b. Rabi'a reported that the first one who was lamented upon in Kufa was Qaraza b. Ka'b. Mughira b. Shu'ba said

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying: He who is lamented upon would be punished because of the lamentation for him on the Day of judgment.

This hadith has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) through another chain of transmitters.

Chapter 10: Stern warning against wailing

Hafsa narrated on the authority of Umm 'Atiyya that she said

When this verse was revealed:" When believing women came to thee giving thee a pledge that they will not associate aught with Allah, and will not disobey thee in good" (lx. 12), she (Umm Atiyya) said: In (this pledge) was also included wailing. I said: Messenger of Allah, except members of such a tribe who helped me (in lamentation) during pre-Islamic days, there is left no alternative for me, but that I should also help them. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: (Yes) but only in case of the members of such a tribe.

Chapter 11: Prohibition of women attending funerals

Umm 'Atiyya reported

We were refrained from following the bier, but it was not made absolute on us.

Chapter 12: Washing the deceased

Umm 'Atiyya reported

When Zainab the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) died, he said to us: Wash her odd number of times, i. e. three or five times, and put camphor or something-like camphor at the fifth time, and after you have washed her inform me. So we informed him and he gave us his under-garment, saying:" Put it next her body."

Umm 'Atiyya reported

There came to us the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as we were washing one of his daughters. So he said: Wash her (dead body) an odd number of times, five times or more than that, the rest of the hadith is the same. She (further) said: We braided her hair in three plaits: (two) on the sides of her head and one on her forehead.

Umm 'Atiyya reported that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked her to wash his daughter, he told her to start from the right side, and with those parts of the body over which Wudu' is performed.

Chapter 7: Visiting the sick

'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported

While we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), a person, one of the Ansar, came to him and greeted him. The Ansari then turned back. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: o brother of Ansar, how is my brother Sa'd be 'Ubada? He said: He is better. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Who amongst you would visit him? He (the Holy Prophet) stood up and we also got up along with him, and we were more than ten persons. We had neither shoes with us, nor socks, nor caps, nor shirts. We walked on the barren land till we came to him. The people around him kept away till the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and his Companions with him came near him (Sa'd b. 'Ubada).

Chapter 9: The deceased is tormented because of his family's crying for him

The same hadith is narrated on the authority of 'Umar through another chain of transmitters.

'Amr reported on the authority of Ibn Abu Mulaika

We were with the bier of Umm Aban, daughter of 'Uthman, and the rest of the hadith is the same, but he did not narrate it as a marfu' hadith on the authority of 'Umar from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as it was narrated by Ayyub and Ibn Juraij, and the hadith narrated by them (Ayyub and Ibn Juraij) is more complete than that of 'Amr.

Hisham b. 'Urwa narrated on the authority of his father that the saying of Ibn 'Umar, viz." The dead would be punished because of the lamentation of his family over him" was mentioned to 'A'isha. Upon this she said

May Allah have mercy upon Abu 'Abd al-Rahman (the kunya of Ibn 'Umar) that he heard something but could not retain it (well). (The fact is) that the bier of a Jew passed before the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and (the members of his family) were waiting over him. Upon this he said: You are wailing and he is being punished.

A hadith like this has been narrated by Mughira b. Shu'ba from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).

Chapter 10: Stern warning against wailing

'A'isha reported that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was told that Ibn Haritha, Ja'far b. Abu Talib and Abdullah b. Rawaha were killed, he sat down, showing signs of grief. She (further) said

I was looking (at him) through the crevice of the door. A man came to him and mentioned that Ja'far's women were lamenting. He (the Holy Prophet) commanded him to go and forbid them (to do so). So he went away but came back and told (him) that they did not obey (him). He commanded him a second time to go and forbid them (to do so). He again went but came back to him and said: I swear by God, Messenger of Allah, that they have overpowered us. She ('A'isha) said that she thought the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had told (her) to throw dust in their mouths. Thereupon 'A'isha said: May Allah humble you! You did not do what Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ordered you, nor did you stop annoying Allah's Messenger (ﷺ).

Chapter 12: Washing the deceased

Umm 'Atiyya reported

The Apostle of Allah (ﷺ) came to us when we were bathing his daughter, and he told us: Wash her with water and (with the leaves of) the lote tree, three or five times, or more than that if you think fit, and put camphor or something like camphor in the last washing; then inform me when you have finished. So when we had finished, we informed him, and he gave to us his (own) under-garment saying:" Put it next her body."

Umm 'Atiyya reported

One of the daughters of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) died. And in the hadith transmitted by Ibn 'Ulayya (the words are): The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to us and we were washing his daughter. And in the hadith transmitted by Malik (the words are): There came in (our apartment) the Messenger of Allah (way peace be upon him) when his daughter died. The rest of the hadith is the same as narrated by Yazid b. Zurai' from Ayyub from Muhammad from Umm 'Atiyya.

Umm 'Atiyya reported

We washed her an odd number of times, i. e. three, five or seven times; and Umm 'Atiyya (further) said: We braided her hair in three plaits.

Umm 'Atiyya reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to them (the women) in regard to the washing of his daughter to start from the right side and with those parts of the body over which Wudu' is performed.

Chapter 14: Covering the deceased

This hadith has been narrated by Zuhri with the same chain of transmitters.

Chapter 16: Hastening with the funeral

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying

Make haste at a funeral; if the dead person was good, it is a good state to which you are sending him on; but if he was otherwise it is an evil of which you are ridding yourselves.