4- THE PRAYER OVER THE DEAD
THE PRAYER OVER THE DEAD
Then the deceased is prayed over (obligatorily).
The obligation is fulfilled if a single Muslim male (who has reached the age of discrimination) prays over the deceased. It is not fulfilled by a prayer of women alone when there is a male available, though if there is no one besides women, they are obliged to pray and their prayer fulfills the obligation.
It is recommended to perform the funeral prayer in a group. It is offensive to pray it at a cemetery (though not in a mosque, which is preferable) .
WHO SHOULD LEAD THE FUNERAL PRAYER
The person best suited to lead the funeral prayer as imam is the one who is best suited to wash the deceased except for women, who have no right to lead. The family member responsible for the deceased is given preference in leading the prayer even over the sultan (or imam of the mosque).
The older of two persons (meaning more years in Islam, provided he is upright takes precedence over the more learned in Sacred Law (when they are at the same level (of the precedence order), such as two sons or two brothers, since the purpose is to pray for the deceased, and the supplication of an older person is more likely to be answered) and (the older) is given precedence over any others (at that level), though if they are of the same age, then one is chosen according to the order used for the imamate of other prayers.
The responsible family member is given precedence in leading the funeral prayer even when the deceased has stipulated some other nonfamily member to be the imam.
PLACING THE BODY FOR HIE FUNERAL PRAYER
It is recommended (in the funeral prayer itself, where the deceased, enshrouded, is on a bier in front of the imam and lying on his right side facing the direction of prayer (qibla) that the imam stand by the head of the deceased, if male, and by the posterior, if female (because this better screens her from view).
If there are several bodies, it is best to perform a separate funeral prayer for each individual, though it is permissible to pray for all of them in a single prayer by putting the biers directly in front of the imam (one after another (parallel with the rows of worshippers), each body facing the direction of prayer (qibla». The closest body to the imam (if the dead differ in gender) should be an adult male, then a boy, then a woman (though if all are male, all female, or all boys), then the best Muslim, then the next best (in piety, abstinence from this world, god fearing, and all praiseworthy traits), and so forth.
If bodies are brought successively, the first one brought is placed closest to the imam, even if a prior arrival is less virtuous or is a boy, though not if a female, whose body should be placed further from the imam than that of a male brought subsequently.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FUNERAL PRAYER
Then one intends to perform the prayer. One must keep in mind its obligatory character, though need not explicitly intend it as a communal obligation. (One may confine oneself to merely intending to pray four Allahu Akbars over the particular deceased person as an obligatory act, without intending its being in fulfillment of a communal obligation. The intention must coincide with one’s opening Allahu Akbar. )
It is valid for someone to perform a funeral prayed for a dead person who is absent while following an imam who is praying over a dead person who is present.
One says “Allahu Akbar” four times in the funeral prayer, raising one’s hands (to shoulder level) at each one, and it is recommended between each one to fold the right hand over the left. The funeral prayer is not invalidated by adding a fifth Allahu Akbar, even intentionally, though if the imam adds one the follower does not do likewise, but simply waits to finish with him when he says his Salaams.
After the first Allahu Akbar it is obligatory to recite the Fatiha. It is recommended to say “I take refuge, etc.” (Ta’awwudh) before it and “Ameen” after it, though not to recite the Opening Supplication (Istiftah) or a sura therein.
(It is obligatory that the Fatiha be recited in the funeral prayer and that the other spoken elements be uttered, but as for each occurring after its respective Allahu Akbar, the only one which must obligatorily be in its place is the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), which must come after the second Allahu Akbar.)
After the second Allahu Akbar (and one remains standing throughout the funeral prayer), it is obligatory to say the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), after which it is Sunna to supplicate for the believers. (It is also Sunna to bless the folk of the Prophet after the blessings upon him (Allah bless him and give him peace) and to say “al-Hamdu lillah” before it.)
After the third Allahu Akbar one supplicates for the deceased. The recommended supplication is: “O Allah, this is Your slave, and son of Your slave. He has left the zephyr of this world and its spaciousness, in which were the things and people he loved, for the darkness of the grave and that which he will meet. He testified that there is no god but You alone without a partner, and that Muhammad is Your slave and messenger. You know him better than we. O Allah, he has gone to remain with You, and You are the best to remain with. He is now in need of Your mercy, and You have no need to torment him. We come to You in desire for You, interceding for him. O Allah, if he did well, treat him the better, and if he did wrong, disregard it and through Your mercy show him Your good pleasure and protect him from the trial and torment of the grave. Make his grave spacious for him and distance the earth from his sides, and through Your mercy protect him from Your torment until You raise him and send him safely to Your paradise, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. ” (This is the optimal supplication. The minimum is mentioned below.)
It is commendable to say before the above: “O Allah, forgive those of us who are alive and those who are dead, those present and those absent, those who are young and those who are old, those who are male and those who are female. O Allah, let those of us You give life live by Islam, and let those of us You take back die in a state of faith. ”
If it is the funeral of a child, one may add to this: “O Allah, send him ahead to smooth the way for his parents, and make him a reason for reward, a treasure, admonition, reflection, and intercessor. Make the scales of their good deeds heavy through him, and fill their hearts with patience. ”
After the fourth Allahu Akbar, it is Sunna to say, “O Allah, do not withhold from us his recompense, nor try us after him, but forgive us and him.”
Then one says “as-Salamu ‘alaykum” twice (the first one being obligatory and the second Sunna).
The integrals of the funeral prayer are seven:
a) the intention;
b) standing;
c) saying “Allahu akbar” four times;
d) the Fatiha;
e) the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace);
f) the supplication for the deceased, the minimum being “O Allah, forgive this deceased”;
g) and the first of the two times one says “as-Salamu ‘alaykum” to finish the prayer.
The conditions of the funeral prayer are the same as other prayers, but in addition require:
a) that the deceased’s body has been washed before the prayer;
b) and that the imam and those praying do not stand ahead of the body during the prayer (i.e. closer to the direction of prayer (qibl).
It is offensive to perform the funeral prayer over a body before it has been shrouded. If someone dies under a pile of rubble, and it is impossible to take out the body and wash it (non-(a) above), then he is not prayed over.
A latecomer to the funeral prayer whom, the imam has preceded by having already said “Allahu Akbar” a number of times recites (0: the Fatiha) after his own opening Allahu Akbar. and then says “Allahu Akbar” each time the imam does, though he performs the integrals in order from the point at which he began (reciting the Fatiha ·after his first Allahu Akbar, the Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him’ peace) after the second, and the supplication for the deceased after his third), and when the imam finishes with Salaams, the latecomer goes on to complete his remaining number of times of saying “Allahu Akbar” and the other spoken elements, and then finishes with his own Salaams.
It is recommended that the body not be lifted until the latecomer finishes his prayer.
If the latecomer joins the group with his opening Allahu Akbar, and the imam immediately says the (second) Allahu Akbar (before the latecomer has had a chance to recite the Fatiha), then the latecomer (omits the Fatiha and) says “Allahu Akbar” with the imam. Here, the latecomer has’ performed the first two Allahu Akbars (both the second one which he performed with them, and the first one which lacked the Fatiha), and he is no longer obliged to recite the Fatiha. If the imam’s Allahu Akbar occurs while such a latecomer is reciting the Fatiha, he discontinues it and says “Allahu Akbar” with the imam.
If the imam says” Allahu akbar” and the follower does not say it until the imam has said it a second time, it invalidates the follower’s prayer.
REPEATING THE FUNERAL PRAYER
When one has performed a funeral prayer over someone, it is recommended that one not repeat it.
Someone who has missed praying (a funeral prayer until after the deceased has been buried) may pray it at the grave (and such a prayer is legally valid whether the deceased was buried before the funeral prayer had been performed over him, or whether after, though it is unlawful to bury a Muslim before his funeral prayer, and anyone who knows of it is guilty of a sin), but only on condition that the person praying at the grave had reached puberty and was sane on the day the deceased died (as he was thus one of those responsible for the communal obligation of praying over the deceased). Otherwise, he may not pray there.
PRAYING OVER THE DEAD WHO ARE NOT PRESENT
It is permissible to perform the funeral prayer for an absent person whose body is out of town, even if not far (and even if the body is not in the direction of prayer (qibla) which the person praying faces). But such a prayer does not lift the communal obligation from the people of the town where the deceased died).
It is not permissible to perform the funeral prayer over someone who is absent (from the place of prayer) when the body is in the same town (though this is permissible if it is at the edge of a large city and is a problem to reach).
If part of the body of a person whose death has been verified is found, then it is obligatory to wash, shroud, and pray over it (even if the part is a fingernail or hair, as there is no difference between a little and a lot (provided that the part was separated from him after death (and provided the rest of him has not been prayed over, for if it has, then it is not obligatory to pray over the part).
BURYING MARTYRS
It is unlawful to wash the body of a martyr (even if in a state of major ritual impurity Ganaba) or the like) or perform the funeral prayer over him. A martyr (shahid) means someone who died in battle with non-Muslims (from fighting them, as opposed to someone who died otherwise, such as a person killed out of oppression when not in battle, or who died from fighting non-polytheists, such as (Muslim) transgressors).
It is recommended that war gear be removed from the body (such as a breastplate and the like), and it is best to bury the martyr in the rest of his bloodstained clothes (since it is the effect of worship), though the responsible family member may nevertheless remove the garments and shroud the body before burial.
BURYING THE STILLBORN
A premature baby (meaning one born before six full months) that dies is treated as an adult if it gave a cry (sneeze, or cough when it left the mother) or showed movement (treated as an adult meaning it is obligatory to wash, shroud, pray over, and bury the baby, since its life and death have been verified). If it did not, then:
1. if it had reached four months in the womb (which is the time at which the spirit is breathed into it) then it is washed before burial but not prayed over;
2. but if it had not, it is only obligatory to bury it.
CARRYING THE DECEASED TO THE GRAVE
The burial should take place immediately after the funeral prayer and not be delayed to wait for anyone besides the responsible family member, provided he is (reasonably) nearby, if it is not to be feared that the condition of the body will change (though if this is feared, then the family member is not awaited).
It is best that the bier be carried by its poles, sometimes by four (men) (one pole on the shoulder of each, the poles being parallel with the bier and supporting it, two ends forward and two ends aft) and sometimes by five, the fifth man between the two forward poles. It is recommended that the bearers walk faster than usual, though they should not trot.
It is recommended for men to follow the bier to the place of burial close enough behind to be considered part of the funeral procession. It is offensive to follow it with fire or incense burners, which are likewise offensive at the burial.
(Source: The reliance of the traveller, revised edition, Edited and Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller)
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