CLASS 6
SALATUL JANAZAH
FUNERAL PRAYERS & RULINGS
Amongst the first things that we do after a death is offer Funeral Prayer. That also is a means of benefitting the Dead. When the Muslims pray janazah for their deceased brother, they are granted intercession for him. The more the number of Muslims who join in the prayer, the more beneficial it is for the deceased. This means that Allaah takes their testimony and supplication regarding the deceased's apparent actions as a sufficient reason for forgiveness. Since those Muslims who associated with him did not find any major problem to prevent them from supplicating for him, Allaah the most generous accepts that and agrees to forgive many of his hidden sins that they did not know. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Whenever a Muslim man dies, and forty men stand for his janazah prayer, all of them not joining anything with Allaah in worship, Allaah grants them intercession for him." (Muslim and others).
In another narration, the number 100 was mentioned instead of 40
So strive to offer Funeral prayers and try and get as many Righteous Muslims to attend the Funeral prayer and request them to pray for the deceased.
Ruling
The funeral prayer is a communal obligation (fard kifaayah) that must be offered for anyone who dies and was apparently Muslim, even if he or she committed major sins.
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Offering the funeral prayer for the deceased is a communal obligation with no difference of opinion among us, which means there is (scholarly) consensus.
Attending a funeral is a duty that a Muslim owes to his fellow Muslim. Al-Bukhaari (1240) and Muslim (2162) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ say: “ "The rights of a Muslim on the Muslims are five: to respond to the salaam, visiting the sick, to follow the funeral processions, to accept an invitation, and to reply to those who sneeze.”.
Reward of attending Funeral
Also there is great reward in it. It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ said: “Whoever attends a funeral until he offers the (funeral) prayer will have one qiraat (of reward) and whoever attends until the burial is done will have two qiraats.” It was said: “What are the two qiraats?” He said: “Like two great mountains.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1261; Muslim, 945)
Unfortunately we see that this is only done by the family & friends whereas the great rewards mentioned in the Hadeeth is not limited to them, it is for any Muslim who finds out about the funeral, attends it and follows it till it is buried.
It serves as a reminder of the inevitable that is death for all of us, the Prophet ﷺ said, “‘Frequently remember the destroyer of pleasures,’ meaning death.” (TIrmidhi, Nisai'‘i & Ibn Majah) . Witnessing the burial reminds us that how we will be there alone in the dark and how the family will leave us there, it is us who needs to face the angels and the trials of the grave and eventually the Day of Judgement.
How to perform the Janaza (Funeral) Prayer.
The prayer over the deceased person takes the following form:
The funeral prayer has neither Adhaan nor lqamah.
The deceased is laid down on the ground with the face directed towards the Ka'ba.
Where the deceased is a male, the Imam would stand facing towards the head of the dead body, while, if the deceased is a woman the Imam would stand facing the middle part of the dead body. Meanwhile, the congregation would be standing behind him in rows.
The funeral prayer is performed with one standing only and has neither bows (Rukuus) nor prostration (Sujuuds).
Steps to be followed
First takbir said. (#1)
Surah al Fatiha read + another surah (desirable).
Second takbir said. (#2)
Then recite salah Ibrahim and Muhammed (SalAllaahu alayhi wasalam)
Next takbir (#3)
Dua for the person who has died from the Sunnah (mentioned below).
Next takbir (#4)
Pause a little.
Then taslimah – one taslim to the right is what majority of the Scholars say is the Sunnah but some also say that Two Taslim is also fine. We need to follow the Imam.
Dua to be recited for an Adult
اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِحَيِّنَا وَمَيِّتِنَا وَشَاهِدِنَا وَغَائِبِنَا وَصَغِيرِنَا وَكَبِيرِنَا وَذَكَرِنَا وَأُنْثَانَا
اللَّهُمَّ مَنْ أَحْيَيْتَهُ مِنَّا فَأَحْيِهِ عَلَى الإِسْلاَمِ وَمَنْ تَوَفَّيْتَهُ مِنَّا فَتَوَفَّهُ عَلَى الإِيمَانِ
اللَّهُمَّ لاَ تَحْرِمْنَا أَجْرَهُ وَلاَ تُضِلَّنَا بَعْدَهُ
‘Allahummaghfir lihayyina wa mayyitina, wa shahidina wa gha’ibina, wa saghirina wa kabirina, wa dhakarina wa unthana. Allahumma man ahyaitahu minna faahyihi ‘alal-Islam, wa man tawaffaytahu minna fa tawaffahu ‘alal- iman. Allahumma la tahrimna ajrahu wa la tudillana ba’dah.
O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, those who are present and those who are absent, our young and our old, our males and our females. O Allah, whomever of us You cause to live, let him live in Islam, and whomever of us You cause to die, let him die in (a state of) faith. O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward, and do not let us go astray after him.
Dua to be recited for a Child
This supplication is made when the deceased is a baby/child (i.e. one not having reached the age of puberty). When the prayer is offered for a child, there should be no prayer for forgiveness, and it should not be said in the prayer “Allaahumma aghfir lahu (O Allaah forgive him),” because no sins were recorded for him. Rather prayers should be said for forgiveness and mercy for his parents.
اللهُـمِّ اجْعَلْـهُ فَرَطـاً وَذُخْـراً لِوالِـدَيه، وَشَفـيعاً مُجـاباً،
اللهُـمِّ ثَـقِّلْ بِهِ مَوازيـنَهُما، وَأَعْـظِمْ بِهِ أُجـورَهُـما، وَأَلْـحِقْـهُ بِصالِـحِ الـمؤْمِنـين،
وَاجْعَلْـهُ في كَفـالَةِ إِبْـراهـيم، وَقِهِ بِرَحْمَـتِكَ عَذابَ الْجَـحيم
Allâhumma j’alhu faratan wa dhukran li-wâlidayhi, wa shafî’an mujâban.
Allâhumma thaqqil bihi mawâzînahumâ, wa a’zim bihi ijûrahumâ, wa alhiqhu bi-sâlihi-l-mu'minîna.
Wa j’alhu fî kafâlati Ibrâhîma, wa qihi bi-rahmatika ‘adhâba-l-jahîm.
‘O Allah, make him a preceding reward and a stored treasure for his parents, and an answered intercessor. O Allah, through him, make heavy their scales and magnify their reward. Unite him with the righteous believers, place him under the care of Ibraheem, and protect him by Your mercy from the torment of Hell.’
NotE
The person should follow the imam in the number of Taslims to finish if he makes one we make one if he makes two we follow. But the majority of Scholars say better to make one Tasleem.
The largest possible number of Muslims should be invited to the Funeral, they should be arranged in a minimum of three rows.
Raising hands for all the Takbeers is the view of Majority of the Scholars but some also are of the view that raising only for the first one is required and one does not need to raise the hands for the others.
If a person joins the funeral prayer while the Imam is about to complete the same, then, the person would continue with the congregation until when the Imam concludes the prayer, then, the person would complete by himself whatever he missed of the prayer following the above procedure.
If a late-comer fears that the body of the deceased may be taken away before he completes the pray over him, then, such a person may only come up with the Words of greatness i.e. "ALLAHU AKBAR" four times without necessarily reciting the required supplications. The person thereafter, comes up with the words of peace, thereby, ending the prayer.
If a person is unable to pray over a deceased person before burial, then, it is permitted for him to pray over the deceased's grave.
If a person who is faraway is told of the death of a friend or family member (who he would have prayed the Funeral for, if he was in town), then such a person may pray over the deceased person in absentia with the intention as though the deceased is actually before him/her.
Women are allowed to attend the funeral Prayer
Praying the janaazah (funeral) prayer is prescribed for both men and women, because the Prophet ﷺ said the reward for it is a qiraat and two if followed until burial. (hadeeth mentioned at the start of the class)”.
But there is a difference of opinion amongst scholars about the permissibility of women following the procession or visiting the grave. The stronger view is that the women should not follow the funeral procession to the graveyard, based on the hadeeth reported in al-Saheehayn that Umm Salamah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: “We were forbidden to follow the funeral procession but it was not made absolute on us.” (narrated by Muslim). Also other hadeeths where, the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Allaah has cursed women who frequent graves," (Ahmed and Tirmidhi and Ibn Maajah and in one version)
"Allaah has cursed women who visit graves and those who build mosques and place lights upon them." (related by Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa'i and al-Haakim)
But women are not forbidden to offer the janaazah prayer, whether it is offered in the mosque, in a house or in a prayer-place. Women used to offer the janaazah prayer with the Prophet ﷺ in his mosque and after his lifetime.
Please join our free online certificate course “BENEFITTING THE DEAD”, to learn more about Death & Funeral rights. https://learn-islam.org/benefiting-the-dead (available online now, register and learn)
TIPS FOR THE TEST
Do not have to memorize the Ayahs or Hadeeths word for word, get a good understanding of the message in it.
Try memorising the Dua for adults.
Remember the rulings.
ATTENDANCE/ASSIGNMENT
There will be an Assignment question in test (on Saturday), the marks for Attendance/Assignment will be given based on the below activities: -
I. Implement atleast 3 Sunnah prayers in your lives (please try for night prayers or any of the ones that you were not practicing already), and also motivate atleast 3 friends or family members about it informing them of the respective rewards. – (7 Marks)
II. Share the Course and its benefits with atleast 10 people - (7 Marks)
Pray for the Ummah - 1 Mark.
Please read the note below
Please take this assignment as a motivation to start talking about Islam and make it part of your regular day (even if you do not know too much, spread the little that you know, as the Prophet ﷺ said “Convey from me, even if it is one verse”), most of us are too shy to talk about Islam but are ok to talk about anything under the sky.
You have the full week to do so.
There will be a question asked in the Test paper about the Assignment, you will have to mention what you did to get the marks accordingly.
May Allah make us all amongst those who call others to good by spreading the Deen of Allah and help us in this noble path.
May Allah help us all Learn the Good to apply it in our lives and the Evil to stay away from it!
Please do invite your friends & Family to the course.
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Happy Learning... JazakAllah Khair...
As Salam Aliakum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barkaatuhu :)