Saturday 16 Sept 2017
Chapter of Prayer: The Funeral (Janaazah) Prayer
- Brief recap of specific prayers we have covered recently
- Reminding the dying of the testimony of faith
- We have been commanded in the Quran and Sunnah to visit the sick, the reward of doing such an act and the benefits to the ill person
- Having hope in Allah, even in the final moments a person who is dying should have good and hopeful thoughts in Allah that he will forgive him and make him/her of those who enter him into paradise
- Mannerism of the Muslim when a person dies.
- To close the eyes of the deceased if they are open (Narration regarding how the Angel of Death takes the soul)
- To NOT delay the burial unnecessarily, bury them as soon as possible. Why is this? (the wisdom behind this is discussed, regarding purpose of Life as a test, the life of the grave (Barzakh), example of Fir’aun/Pharoah and how even if a person isn’t actually buried in a grave they still enter the life of Barzakh, and a reminder of the fire of Hell)
- The body of the deceased is washed and shrouded. The men should wash a male deceased and the women wash the female who has died.
- How to perform the Funeral Prayer:
- The funeral prayer is to be performed outside of the mosque
- The deceased (washed and shrouded) is placed at the front
- The Imam stands before that body, at the head if it is a man and at the middle if it is a woman
- The opening (first) takbir
- Read the Fatiha
- Another takbir
- Read salaah and salaam upon the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
- Third takbir
- Now read a supplication for the deceased, ask Allah to forgive him/her , as Allah to enter him/her into paradise
- Fourth takbir
- Give the Salaam and end the prayer,
- There are narrations that say the more people pray in the funeral prayer the better for the deceased
- How is the burial carried out:
- The grave should be set out so that the head faces the Qiblah
- The hole itself should be dug so that a hole is a dug downward and then another hole dug to the side of the base of the first. Alternatively the grave could be dig so that one big hole is dug, and then
- What is the reason of digging in such a way?
- A coffin is not needed in Islamic way of burial
- Once the deceased is buried, everyone should supplicate for them individually, not in congregation
- What about consolations? It is permissible to console the family of the deceased HOWEVER what should NOT be done is that the family of the deceased is made to host a large amount of people, and to cook for them etc. this places a burden unnecessarily on that family who now must bear host to large number of guests.
- Q&A:
- How can Muslims bury the deceased without a coffin if living in the UK?
- Is a funeral prayer due for a still born baby, e.g. miscarriage?
- What if body is burned or damaged? Should we still wash?
Next Week Insha Allah: The Funeral Prayer continued (going into details)