Chapters Regarding Funerals

It wasnarrated that Jarir bin ‘Abdullah Al-Bajali said: “We used tothink that gathering with the family of the deceased and preparingfood was a form of wailing.”

It wasnarrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: Dying in a strange land is martyrdom.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr said: “A man died inAl-Madinah, and he was one of those who were born in Al-Madinah. TheProphet (ﷺ) offered the funeral prayer for him and said: “Wouldthathe had died somewhere other than his birthplace.” A man amongthepeople said: “Why, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “If aman diessomewhere other than his birthplace, a space will bemeasured for himin Paradise (as big as the distance) from the placewhere he was bornto the place where he died.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “Whoever dies from a sickness dies as a martyr. He is protectedfrom the torment of the grave and he is granted provision fromParadise morning and evening.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Aishah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Breaking the bones of the deceased is like breaking his bones whenheis alive.”

It wasnarrated from Umm Salamah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Breakingthe bones of the deceased is, in sin, like breaking hisbones when heis alive.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Ubaidullah bin ‘Abdullah said: “I asked‘Aishah:‘O mother! Tell me about the sickness of the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ).’ She said: ‘He felt pain and started to spit (over hisbody), and we began to compare his spittle to the spittle of a personeating raisins. Like a person eating raisins and spitting out theseeds. He used to go around among his wives, but when he became ill,he asked them permission to stay in the house of ‘Aishah and thattheyshould come to him in turns.’ She said: ‘The Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ)entered upon me, (supported) between two men, with hisfeet makinglines along the ground. One of them was ‘Abbas.’ Itold Ibn ‘Abbasthis Hadith and he said: ‘Do you know who theother man was whom‘Aishah did not name? He was ‘Ali bin AbuTalib.’”

It wasnarrated that ‘Aishah said: “The Prophet (ﷺ) used to seekrefuge using the following words: ‘Adhhibil-ba’s, Rabbin-nas,washfiAntash-shafi, la shifa’a illa shifa’uka, shifa’an layughadiru saqaman(Take away the affliction, O Lord of mankind, andgrant healing, forYou are the Healer and there is no healing thatleaves no sickness).’When the Prophet (ﷺ) fell sick with thesickness that would be hislast, I took his hand and wiped it overhis body and recited thesewords. He withdrew his hand from mine andsaid: ‘O Allah, forgive meand let me meet the exalted companions(i.e., those who occupy highpositions in Paradise).’ Those werethe last words of his that Iheard.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Aishah said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)say: ‘There is no Prophet who fell sick but he was given thechoicebetween this world and the Hereafter.’ She said: ‘When hebecamesick with the illness that would be his last, (his voice)becamehoarse and I heard him say, “In the company of those on whomAllahhas bestowed His grace, of the Prophets, the true believers, themartyrs, and the righteous.’” [4:69] Then I knew that he had beengiven the choice.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Aishah said: “The wives of the Prophet (ﷺ)gathered together and not one of them lagged behind. Fatimah came,andher gait was like that of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He said,‘Welcome to my daughter.’ Then he made her sit to his left, andhewhispered something to her, and she smiled. I said to her: ‘Whatmadeyou weep?’ She said: ‘I will not disclose the secret of theMessengerof Allah (ﷺ).’ I said: ‘I never saw joy so close togrief as I sawtoday.’ When she wept I said: ‘Did the Messengerof Allah (ﷺ) tellyou some special words that were not for us, thenyou wept?’ And Iasked her about what he had said. She said: ‘Iwill not disclose thesecret of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).’After he died I asked herwhat he had said, and she said: ‘He toldme that Jibra’il used toreview the Qur’an with him once eachyear, but he had reviewed it withhim twice that year, (and he said:)“I do not think but that my timeis near. You will be the first ofmy family to join me, and what agood predecessor I am for you.” SoI wept. Then he whispered to me andsaid: “Will you not be pleasedto be the leader of the women of thisUmmah?” So I smiled.’”

‘Aishahsaid: “I never saw anyone suffer more pain than the MessengerofAllah (ﷺ).”

It wasnarrated that ‘Aishah said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)when he was dying, and there was a bowl of water next to him. Heputhis hand in the vessel and wiped his face with the water, andsaid:‘O Allah, help me to bear the agonies of death.’”

It wasnarrated that Zuhri heard Anas bin Malik say: “The last glancethatI had of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was when he drew back thecurtain on Monday, and I saw his face as if it was a page of theMushaf (Qur’an), and the people were praying behind Abu Bakr. He(AbuBakr) wanted to move, but he (the Prophet (ﷺ)) gestured to himtostand firm. Then he let the curtain fall, and he died at the endofthat day.”

It wasnarrated from Umm Salamah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)used tosay, during the illness that would be his last: “The prayer,andthose whom your hands possess.”* And he kept on saying it untilhistongue could no longer utter any words.

It wasnarrated that Aswad said: “They said in ‘Aishah’s presencethat‘Ali was appointed (by the Prophet (ﷺ) before he died), and shesaid: ‘When was he appointed? He (the Prophet (ﷺ)) was restingagainst my bosom, or in my lap, and he called for a basin, then hebecame limp in my lap and died, and I did not realize it. So when didhe (ﷺ) appoint him?’”

It wasnarrated that ‘Aishah said: “When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)passed away, Abu Bakr was with his wife, the daughter of Kharijah, invillages surrounding Al-Madinah. They started to say: ‘The Prophet(ﷺ) has not died, rather he has been overcome with what used toovercome him at the time of Revelation.’ Then Abu Bakr came anduncovered his (the Prophet’s (ﷺ)) face, kissed him between theeyesand said: ‘You are too noble before Allah for Him to cause youto dietwice. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has indeeddied.’ ‘Umarwas in a corner of the mosque saying: ‘By Allah,the Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ) has not died and he will never die untilthe hands andfeet of most of the hypocrites are cut off.’ Then AbuBakr stood up,ascended the pulpit and said: ‘Whoever used toworship Allah, Allah isalive and will never die. Whoever used toworship Muhammad, Muhammadis dead. “Muhammad is no more than aMessenger, and indeed (many)Messengers have passed away before him.If he dies or is killed, willyou then turn back on your heels (asdisbelievers)? And he who turnsback on his heels, not the least harmwill he do to Allah; and Allahwill give reward to those who aregrateful.’” [3:144] ‘Umar said: ‘Itwas as if I had neverread (that Verse) before that day.’”

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “When they wanted to dig agravefor the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), they sent for Abu ‘Ubaidah binJarrah, who used to dig graves in the manner of the people of Makkah,and they sent for Abu Talhah, who used to dig graves for the peopleofAl-Madinah, and he used to make a niche in the grave. They senttwomessengers to both of them, and they said: ‘O Allah, choosewhat isbest for Your Messenger.’ They found Abu Talhah and broughthim, butthey did not find Abu ‘Ubaidah. So he dug a grave with aniche for theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ). When they had finishedpreparing him, onTuesday, he was placed on his bed in his house.Then the peopleentered upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in groupsand offered thefuneral prayer for him, and when they finished thewomen entered, andwhen they finished the children entered, and noone led the people inoffering the funeral prayer for the Messengerof Allah (ﷺ). TheMuslims differed concerning the place where heshould be buried. Somesaid that he should be buried in his mosque.Others said that heshould be buried with his Companions. Then AbuBakr said: ‘I heard theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “No Prophetever passed away but he wasburied where he died.” So they liftedup the bed of the Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ) on which he had died, anddug the grave for him, then he(ﷺ) was buried in the middle ofTuesday night. ‘Ali bin Abu Talib,Fadl bin ‘Abbas and hisbrother Qutham, and Shuqran the freed slave ofthe Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) went down in his grave. Aws bin Khawli,who was Abu Laila, saidto ‘Ali bin Abi Talib: ‘I adjure you by Allah!Give us our shareof the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).’ So ‘Ali said tohim: ‘Comedown.’ Shuqran, his freed slave, had taken a Qatifah whichtheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to wear. He buried it in his graveandsaid, ‘By Allah, no one will ever wear it after you.’ So it wasburied with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).”

It wasnarrated that Anas bin Malik said: “When the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) suffered the agonies of death that he suffered, Fatimahsaid:‘O my father, what a severe agony!’ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘Your father will suffer no more agony after this day. Therehascome to your father that which no one can avoid, the death thateveryone will encounter until the Day of Resurrection.’”

It wasnarrated that Anas bin Malik said: “Fatimah said to me: ‘OAnas,how did you manage to scatter dust on the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)?’”And Thabit narrated to us from Anas that Fatimah said: “WhentheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed away: ‘O my father! To Jibra’ilweannounce his death; O my father, how much closer he is now to hisLord; O my father, the Paradise of Firdaws is his abode; O my father,he has answered the call of his Lord.”

It wasnarrated that Anas said: “On the day when the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) entered Al-Madinah, everything was lit up, and on the daywhenhe died, everything went dark, and no sooner had we dusted offourhands (after burying him) but we felt that our hearts hadchanged.”*

It wasnarrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “We used to be guarded in ourspeech even with our wives at the time of the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ), fearing that Qur’an may be revealed amongst us, but when theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) died, we began to speak freely.”

It wasnarrated that Ubayy bin Ka’b said: “We were with the MessengerofAllah (ﷺ) and we all had a single focus, but when he passed awaywestarted to look here and there (i.e., have different interests).”

It wasnarrated that Umm Salamah bint Abi Umayyah, the wife of theProphet(ﷺ), said: “At the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), ifaperson stood to pray, his gaze would not go beyond his feet. WhentheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) died, if a person stood to pray, his gazewould not go beydon the place where he put his forehead whenprostrating. Then Abu Bakr died and it was ‘Umar (the caliph). So,when any person stood to pray his gaze would not go beyond theQiblah.Then came the time of ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan, and there wasFitnah(tribulation, turmoil), and the people started to look rightandleft.”

It wasnarrated that Anas said: “After the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)haddied, Abu Bakr said to ‘Umar: ‘Let us go and visit Umm Ayman asthe Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to visit her.’ He said: ‘Whenwereached her she wept.’ They said: ‘Why are you weeping? Whatis withAllah is better for His Messenger.’ She said: ‘I knowthat what iswith Allah is better for His Messenger, but I am weepingbecause theRevelation from heaven has ceased.’ She moved them totears and theystarted to weep with her.”

It wasnarrated from Aws bin Aws that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: ‘The best of your days is Friday. On it Adam was created; on itshall be the Nafakhah,* on it all creation will swoon. So send agreatdeal of blessing upon me on this day, for your blessing will bepresented to me.’ A man said: “O Messenger of Allah! How will ourblessing be presented to you when you have disintegrated?” He said:“Allah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of theProphets.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Darda’ that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “Send a great deal of blessing upon me on Fridays, for it iswitnessed by the angels. No one sends blessing upon me but hisblessing will be presented to me, until he finishes them.” A mansaid:“Even after death?” He said: “Even after death, for Allahhasforbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets, so theProphet of Allah is alive and receives provision.’”