The Book of Funerals

Muhammad ibn Salamah and al-Harith ibn Miskin informed me—the latter by a reading to him while I listened, and the wording is his—from Ibn al-Qasim, who said: Malik related to me, from ‘Alqamah ibn Abi ‘Alqamah, from his mother, who heard ‘A’ishah say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) got up one night, put on his clothes, and went out. I instructed my servant-girl Barirah to follow him, and she followed him until he reached al-Baqi‘. He stood there for as long as Allah willed. Then he departed, and Barirah hurried back ahead of him and told me. I did not mention anything to him until morning. Then I told him about it, and he said, ‘I was sent to the people of al-Baqi‘ to pray for them.’

‘Ali ibn Hujr informed us, saying: Isma‘il narrated to us, saying: Sharik—namely, Ibn Abi Nimr—narrated to us, from ‘Ata’, from ‘A’ishah, who said: Whenever it was the night on which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stayed with her, he would go out in the last part of the night to al-Baqi‘ and say: ‘Peace be upon you, dwellings of a believing people. We have a rendezvous with you tomorrow—or we are to be joined together. If Allah wills, we will join you. O Allah, forgive the people of Baqi‘ al-Gharqad.’

‘Ubayd Allah ibn Sa‘id informed us, saying: Harami ibn ‘Umarah narrated to us, saying: Shu‘bah narrated to us, from ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad, from Sulayman ibn Buraydah, from his father: Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to the graves, he would say: ‘Peace be upon you, inhabitants of these dwellings among the believers and Muslims. If Allah wills, we will join you. You have gone ahead of us, and we will follow you. I ask Allah to grant well-being to us and to you.’

Qutaybah informed us, saying: Sufyan narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: When the Negus died, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, ‘Seek forgiveness for him.’

Abu Dawud informed us, saying: Ya‘qub narrated to us, saying: My father narrated to us, from Salih, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Abu Salamah and Ibn al-Musayyab related to me that Abu Hurayrah informed them: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) announced to them the death of the Negus, ruler of Abyssinia, on the day he died, and said, ‘Seek forgiveness for your brother.’

Qutaybah informed us, saying: ‘Abd al-Warith ibn Sa‘id narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Juhadah, from Abu Salih, from Ibn ‘Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed women who visit graves and those who take graves as mosques or place lamps on them.

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak informed us, from Waki‘, from Sufyan, from Suhayl, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘For one of you to sit on an ember until it burns his clothes is better for him than sitting on a grave.’

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Hakam informed us, from Shu‘ayb, who said: Al-Layth narrated to us, saying: Khalid narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Hilal, from Abu Bakr ibn Hazm, from al-Nadr ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Sulami, from ‘Amr ibn Hazm, from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: ‘Do not sit on graves.’

Amr ibn Ali informed us: Khalid ibn al-Harith narrated to us: Shubah narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Said ibn al-Musayyab, from Aishah, that the Prophet ﷺ said: May Allah curse people who took the graves of their prophets as places of worship.

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahim, Abu Yahya, known as Saiqah, informed us: Abu Salamah al-Khuzai narrated to us: al-Layth ibn Sad narrated to us, from Yazid ibn al-Had, from Ibn Shihab, from Said ibn al-Musayyab, from Abu Hurairah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: May Allah curse the Jews and Christians; they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship.

Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak informed us: Waki narrated to us, from al-Aswad ibn Shayban—who was trustworthy—from Khalid ibn Sumayr, from Bashir ibn Nahik, that Bashir ibn al-Khasasiyyah said: I was walking with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he passed by the graves of the Muslims and said, These people have gone ahead of much evil. Then he passed by the graves of the polytheists and said, These people have gone ahead of much good. He turned and saw a man walking among the graves in his sandals. He said, You wearing the two sibti sandals, take them off.

Ahmad ibn Abi Ubaidullah al-Warraq informed us: Yazid ibn Zuray narrated to us, from Said, from Qatadah, from Anas, that the Prophet ﷺ said: When a servant is placed in his grave and his companions turn away, he can hear the sound of their sandals.

Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak and Ibrahim ibn Yaqub ibn Ishaq informed us: Yunus ibn Muhammad narrated to us, from Shayban, from Qatadah, who informed us: Anas ibn Malik said that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: When a servant is placed in his grave and his companions turn away, he hears the sound of their sandals. Two angels then come to him and sit him up. They ask him, What did you used to say about this man? As for the believer, he says, I bear witness that he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger. It is said to him, Look at your place in the Fire; Allah has replaced it for you with a place in Paradise. The Prophet ﷺ said, He sees them both.

Ahmad ibn Abi Ubaidullah informed us: Yazid ibn Zuray narrated to us, from Said, from Qatadah, from Anas, that the Prophet ﷺ said: When a servant is placed in his grave and his companions turn away, he hears the sound of their sandals. Two angels come to him and sit him up. They ask him, What did you used to say about this man, Muhammad? As for the believer, he says, I bear witness that he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger. It is said to him, Look at your place in the Fire; Allah has replaced it for you with a place better than it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, He sees them both. As for the disbeliever or hypocrite, he is asked, What did you used to say about this man? He replies, I do not know; I used to say what the people said. It is said to him, You neither knew nor followed. Then he is struck once between his ears and cries out with a scream heard by all nearby except humans and jinn.

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Ala informed us: Khalid narrated to us, from Shubah, who said: Jami ibn Shaddad informed me: I heard Abdullah ibn Yasar say: I was sitting with Sulayman ibn Surad and Khalid ibn Urfutah, and they mentioned a man who had died from an abdominal illness. They both wished to attend his funeral. One said to the other, Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ not say, Whoever dies from an abdominal illness will not be punished in his grave? The other replied, Yes.

Ibrahim ibn al-Hasan informed us: Hajjaj narrated to us, from Layth ibn Sad, from Muawiyah ibn Salih, that Safwan ibn Amr related to him, from Rashid ibn Sad, from a man among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, that a man said: Messenger of Allah, why are believers tested in their graves, except for the martyr? He replied: The flashing of swords above his head is trial enough for him.

Ubaidullah ibn Said informed us: Yahya narrated to us, from al-Taymi, from Abu Uthman, from Amir ibn Malik, from Safwan ibn Umayyah, who said: The plague, death from abdominal illness, drowning, and death in childbirth are martyrdom. The narrator said: Abu Uthman narrated this to us several times, and once he attributed it to the Prophet ﷺ.

Ishaq ibn Ibrahim informed us: Amr ibn Muhammad al-Anqazi narrated to us: Ibn Idris narrated to us, from Ubaidullah, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said: This is the one for whom the Throne shook, the gates of heaven were opened, and seventy thousand angels attended. He was indeed squeezed once, then released.

Ishaq ibn Mansur informed us: Abd al-Rahman narrated to us, from Sufyan, from his father, from Khaythamah, from al-Bara, who said regarding the words, Allah makes those who believe firm with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter: They were revealed concerning the punishment of the grave.

Muhammad ibn Bashshar informed us: Muhammad narrated to us: Shubah narrated to us, from Alqamah ibn Marthad, from Sad ibn Ubaidah, from al-Bara ibn Azib, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said regarding the words, Allah makes those who believe firm with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter: They were revealed concerning the punishment of the grave. The deceased will be asked, Who is your Lord? He will reply, My Lord is Allah, and my religion is the religion of Muhammad ﷺ. That is the meaning of His words, Allah makes those who believe firm with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter.