The Book of Prayer (Funerals)

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Exhort to recite" There is no god but Allah" to those of you who are dying.

This hadith has been narrated by Sulaiman b. Bilal with the same chain of transmitters.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Exhort to recite" There is no god but Allah" to those of you who are dying.

Umm Salama reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: If any Muslim who suffers some calamity says, what Allah has commanded him," We belong to Allah and to Him shall we return; O Allah, reward me for my affliction and give me something better than it in exchange for it," Allah will give him something better than it in exchange. When Abu Salama died she said: What Muslim is better than Abu Salama whose family was the first to emigrate to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). I then said the words, and Allah gave me God's Messenger (may peace be upon him) in exchange. She said: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent Hatib b. Abu Balta'a to deliver me the message of marriage with him. I said to him: I have a daughter (as my dependant) and I am of jealous temperament. He (the Holy Prophet) said: So far as her daughter is concerned, we would supplicate Allah, that He may free her (of her responsibility) and I would also supplicate Allah to do away with (her) jealous (temperament).

Umm Salama, the wife of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him), reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: If any servant (of Allah) who suffers a calamity says:" We belong to Allah and to Him shall we return; O Allah, reward me for my affliction and give me something better than it in exchange for it," ' Allah will give him reward for affliction, and would give him something better than it in exchange. She (Umm Salama) said: When Abu Salama died. I uttered (these very words) as I was commanded (to do) by the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). So Allah gave me better in exchange than him. i. e. (I was taken as the wife of) the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him).

Umm Salama, the wife of the Apostle of Allah (way peace be upon him), reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) saying like the hadith transmitted by Abu Usama, but with this addition that she said: " When Abu Salama died I said: Who is better than Abu Salama, the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), and Allah decided for me and I said (these words contained in the supplication mentioned above) and I was married to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him).

Umm Salama reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Whenever you visit the sick or the dead, supplicate for good because angels say" Amen" to whatever you say. She added: When Abu Salama died, I went to the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) and said: Messenger of Allah, Abu Salama has died. He told me to recite:" O Allah! forgive me and him (Abu Salama) and give me a better substitute than he." So I said (this), and Allah gave me in exchange Muhammad, who is better for me than him (Abu Salama).

Umm Salama reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon came to Abu Salama (as he died). His eyes were fixedly open. He closed them, and then said: When the soul is taken away the sight follows it. Some of the people of his family wept and wailed. So he said: Do not supplicate for yourselves anything but good, for angels say" Amen" to what you say. He then said: O Allah, forgive Abu Salama, raise his degree among those who are rightly guided, grant him a successor in his descendants who remain. Forgive us and him, O Lord of the Universe, and make his grave spacious, and grant him light in it.

This hadith has been narrated by Khalid al Hadhdha' with the same chain of transmitters but with this alteration that he said: (O Allah! ) let Thee be the caretaker of what is left by him, and he said: Grant him expansion of the grave, but he did not say: Make his grave spacious. Khalid said: He supplicated for the seventh (thing too) which I have forgotten.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Did you not see when the man died and his eyes were fixedly open? He (Abu Huraira) said: Yes. He (the Holy Prophet) said: It is due to the fact that when (the soul leaves the body) his eyesight follows the soul.

This hadith is narrated on the authority of 'Ala' with the same chain of transmitters.

Umm Salama reported: When Abu Salama died I said: I am a stranger in a strange land; I shall weep for him in a manner that would be talked of. I made preparation for weeping for him when a woman from the upper side of the city came there who intended to help me (in weeping). She happened to come across the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and he said: Do you intend to bring the devil into a house from which Allah has twice driven him out? I (Umm Salama), therefore, refrained from weeping and I did not weep.

Usama b. Zaid reported: While we were with the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him), one of his daughters sent to him (the Messenger) to call him and inform him that her child or her son was dying. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) told the messenger to go back and tell her that what Allah had taken belonged to Him, and to him belonged what He granted; and He has an appointed time for everything. So you (the messenger) order her to show endurance and seek reward from Allah. The messenger came back and said: She adjures him to come to her. He got up to go accompanied by Sa'd b. 'Ubada, Mu'adh b. Jabal, and I also went along with them. The child was lifted to him and his soul was feeling as restless as if it was in an old (waterskin). His (Prophet's) eyes welled up with tears. Sa'd said: What is this, Messenger of Allah? He replied: This is compassion which Allah has placed in the hearts of His servants, and God shows compassion only to those of His servants who are compassionate.

This hadith has been narrated by another chain of transmitters on the authority of 'Asim al-Ahwal.

'Abdullah b. 'Umar said that Sa'd b. Ubada complained of illness. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) came to visit him accompanied by 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auf, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas and 'Abdullah b. Mas'ud. As he entered (his room) he found him in a swoon. Upon this he said: Has he died? They said: Messenger of Allah, it is not so. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) wept. When the people saw Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) weeping, they also began to weep. He said. Listen, Allah does not punish for the tears that the eye sheds or the grief the heart feels, but He punishes for this (pointing to his tongue), or He may show mercy.

'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported: While we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), a person, one of the Ansar, came to him and greeted him. The Ansari then turned back. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: o brother of Ansar, how is my brother Sa'd be 'Ubada? He said: He is better. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) 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 (may peace be upon him) and his Companions with him came near him (Sa'd b. 'Ubada).

Anas b. Malik reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Endurance is to be shown at the first blow.

Anas b. Malik reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to a woman who had been weeping for her (dead) child, and said to her: Fear Allah and show endurance. She (not recognising him) said: You have not been afflicted as I have been. When he (the Holy Prophet) had departed, it was said to her that he was the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), she was mortally shocked. She came to his door and she did not find doorkeepers at his door. She said: Messenger of Allah. I did not recognise you. He said: Endurance is to be shown at first blow, or at the first blow.

A hadith like this is narrated with the same chain of transmitters but with the addition of these words: " The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) happened to pass by a woman (who was sitting) by the side of a grave."

'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that Hafsa wept for 'Umar (when he was about to die). He ('Umar) said: Be quiet, my daughter. Don't you know that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had said:" The deceased is punished because of his family's weeping over the death"?

Umar reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: The dead is punished in the grave because of wailing on it.

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

Ibn 'Umar reported: When 'Umar was wounded he fainted, and there was a loud lamentation over him. When he regained consciousness he said: Didn't you know that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:" The dead is punished because of the weeping of the living"?

Abu Burda narrated on the authority of his father that when 'Umar was wounded Suhaib uttered (loudly in lamentation): O brother! Upon this 'Umar said: Suhaib, did you not know that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:" The dead is punished because of the lamentation of the living"?

Abu Musa reported that when 'Umar was wounded, there came Suhaib from his house and went to 'Umar and stood by his side, and began to wail. Upon this 'Umar said: What are you weeping for? Are you weeping for me? He said: By Allah, it is for you that I weep, O Commander of the believers. He said: By Allah, you already know that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had said: He who is lamented upon is punished. I made a mention of it to Musa b. Talha, and he said that 'A'isha told that it concerned the Jews (only).

Anas reported that when 'Umar b. Khattab was wounded Hafsa lamented for him. Upon this he said: O Hafsa, did you not hear the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) saying:" One who is lamented would be punished"? Suhaib also lamented over him. 'Umar told him also: O Suhaib, didn't you know that one who is lamented is punished?

'Abdullah b. Abu Mulaika reported: I was sitting by the side of Ibn 'Umar, and we were waiting for the bier of Umm Aban, daughter of 'Uthman, and there was also 'Amr b. 'Uthman. In the meanwhile there came Ibn 'Abbas led by a guide. I conceive that he was informed of the place of Ibn 'Umar. So he came till he sat by my side. While I was between them (Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn 'Umar) there came the noise (of wailing) from the house. Upon this Ibn 'Umar said (that is, he pointed out to 'Amr that he should stand and forbid them, for): I heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as saying: The dead is punished because of the lamentation of his family. 'Abdullah made it general (what was said for a particular occasion). Ibn 'Abbas said: When we were with the Commander of the believers, 'Umar b. Khattab, we reached Baida', and there was a man under the shadow of the tree. He said to me: Go and inform me who is that person. So I went and (found) that he was Suhaib. I returned to him and said: You commanded me to find out for you who that was, and he is Suhaib. He (Hadrat 'Umar) said: Command him to see us. I said: He has family along with him. He said: (That is of no account) even if he has family along with him. So he (the narrator) told him to see (the Commander of the believers and his party). When we came (to Medina), it was before long that the Commander of the believers was wounded, and Suhaib came weeping and crying: Alas for the brother, alas for the companion. Upon this 'Umar said: Didn't you know, or didn't you hear, that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:" The dead is punished because of the lamentation of his family"? Then 'Abdullah made it general and 'Umar told it of certain occasions. So I ('Abdullah b. Abu Mulaika) stood up and went to 'A'isha and told her what Ibn 'Umar had said. Upon this she said: I swear by Allah that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) never said that dead would be punished because of his family's lamenting (for him). What he said was that Allah would increase the punishment of the unbeliever because of his family's lamenting for him. Verily it is Allah Who has caused laughter and weeping. No bearer of a burden will bear another's burden. Ibn Abu Mulaika said that al-Qasim b. Muhammad said that when the words of 'Umar and Ibn 'Umar were conveyed to 'A'isha, she said: You have narrated it to me from those who are neither liar nor those suspected of lying but (sometimes) hearing misleads.

'Abdullah b. Abu Mulaika said: The daughter of 'Uthman b. 'Affan died in Mecca. We came to attend her (funeral). Ibn 'Umar and Ibn 'Abbas were also present there, and I was sitting between them. He added: I (first sat) by the side of one of them, then the other one came and he sat by my side. 'Abdullah b. 'Umar said to 'Amr b. 'Uthman who was sitting opposite to him: Will you not prevent the people from lamenting, for the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had said:" The dead is punished because of the lamenting of his family for him"? Ibn 'Abbas then said that Umar used to say someting of that nature, and then narrated saying: I proceeded from Mecca along with 'Umar till we reached al-Baida' and there was a party of riders under the shade of a tree. He said (to me): Go and find out who this party is. I cast a glance and there was Suhaib (in that party). So I informed him ('Umar) about it. He said: Call him to me. So I went back to Suhaib and said: Go and meet the Commander of the believers. When 'Umar was wounded, Suhaib came walling: Alas, for the brother! alas for the companion! 'Umar said: O Suhaib, do you wail for me, whereas the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:" The dead would be punished on account of the lamentation of the (members of his family)"? Ibn 'Abbas said: When 'Umar died I made a mention of it to 'A'isha. She said: May Allah have mercy upon 'Umar! I swear by Allah that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) never said that Allah would punish the believer because of the weeping (of any one of the members of his family), but he said that Allah would increase the punishment of the unbeliever because of the weeping of his family over him. 'A'isha said: The Qur'an is enough for you (when it states):" No bearer of burden will bear another's burden" (vi. 164). Thereupon Ibn 'Abbas said: Allah is He Who has caused laughter and weeping. Ibn Abu Mulaika said: By Allah, Ibn 'Umar said nothing.

'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 Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) 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.

'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The dead is punished because of the lamentation of the living.