Partial Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 20:

Funerals (Kitab Al-Jana'iz)


Book 20, Number 3083:

Narrated Amir ar-Ram:

We were in our country when flags and banners were raised. I said: What is this?

The (the people) said: This is the banner of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). So I came to him. He was (sitting) under a tree. A sheet of cloth was spread for him and he was sitting on it. His Companions were gathered around him. I sat with them.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) mentioned illness and said: When a believer is afflicted by illness and Allah cures him of it, it serves as an atonement for his previous sins and a warning to him for the future.

But when a hypocrite becomes ill and is then cured, he is like a camel which has been tethered and then let loose by its owners, but does not know why they tethered it and why they let it loose.

A man from among those around him asked: Apostle of Allah, what are illnesses? I swear by Allah, I never fell ill.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Get up and leave us. You do not belong to our number. When we were with him, a man came to him. He had a sheet of cloth and something in his hand.

He turned his attention to him and said: Apostle of Allah, when I saw you, I turned towards you. I saw a group of trees and heard the sound of fledglings. I took them and put them in my garment. Their mother then came and began to hover round my head. I showed them to her, and she fell on them. I wrapped them with my garment. They are now with me.

He said: Put them away from you. So I put them away, but their mother stayed with them.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said to his companions: Are you surprised at the affection of the mother for her young?

They said: Yes, Apostle of Allah. He said: I swear by Him Who has sent me with the Truth, Allah is more affectionate to His servants than a mother to her young ones. Take them back put them and where you took them from when their mother should have been with them. So he took them back.


Book 20, Number 3084:

Narrated Muhammad ibn Khalid as-Sulami:

As-Sulami's grandfather, who was a Companion of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: When Allah has previously decreed for a servant a rank which he has not attained by his action, He afflicts him in his body, or his property or his children.


Book 20, Number 3086:

Narrated Umm al-Ala:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) visited me while I was sick. He said: Be glad, Umm al-Ala' for Allah removes the sins of a Muslim for his illness as fire removes the dross of gold and silver.


Book 20, Number 3091:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If anyone performs ablution well and pays a sick-visit to his brother Muslim seeking his reward from Allah, he will be removed a distance of sixty years (kharif) from Hell. I asked: What is kharif, AbuHamzah? He replied: A year.


Book 20, Number 3096:

Narrated Zayd ibn Arqam:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) visited me while I was suffering from pain in my eyes.


Book 20, Number 3100:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If anyone visits a sick whose time (of death) has not come, and says with him seven times: I ask Allah, the Mighty, the Lord of the mighty Throne, to cure you, Allah will cure him from that disease.


Book 20, Number 3101:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: When a man comes to visit a sick person, he should say: O Allah, cure Thy servant, who may then wreak havoc on an enemy for Thy sake, or walk at a funeral for Thy sake.


Book 20, Number 3104:

Narrated Ubayd ibn Khalid as-Sulami,:

A man from the Companions of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him), said: The narrator Sa'd ibn Ubaydah narrated sometimes from the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and sometimes as a statement of Ubayd (ibn Khalid): The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Sudden death is a wrathful catching.


Book 20, Number 3105:

Narrated Jabir ibn Atik:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) came to visit Abdullah ibn Thabit who was ill. He found that he was dominated (by the divine decree). The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) called him loudly, but he did not respond.

He uttered the Qur'anic verse "We belong to Allah and to Him do we return" and he said: We have been dominated against you, AburRabi'. Then the women cried and wept, and Ibn Atik began to silence them. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Leave them, when the divine decree is made, no woman should weep.

They (the people) asked: What is necessary happening, Apostle of Allah? He replied: Death. His daughter said: I hope you will be a martyr, for you have completed your preparations for jihad. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah Most High gave him a reward according to his intentions. What do you consider martyrdom?

They said: Being killed in the cause of Allah.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: There are seven types of martyrdom in addition to being killed in Allah's cause: one who dies of plague is a martyr; one who is drowned is a martyr; one who dies of pleurisy is a martyr; one who dies of an internal complaint is a martyr; one who is burnt to death is a martyr; who one is killed by a building falling on him is a martyr; and a woman who dies while pregnant is a martyr.


Book 20, Number 3108:

Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri:

When the time of his death came, he called for new clothes and put on them. He then said: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: A deceased will be raised in the clothes in which he died.


Book 20, Number 3115:

Narrated Ma'qil ibn Yasar:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Recite Surah Ya-Sin over your dying men. This is the version of Ibn al-Ala'


Book 20, Number 3117:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:

We buried a deceased person in the company of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). When we had finished, the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) returned and we also returned with him. When he approached his door, he stopped, and we saw a woman coming towards him.

He (the narrator) said: I think he recognized her. When she went away, we came to know that she was Fatimah.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said to her: What brought you out of your house, Fatimah?

She replied: I came to the people of this house, Apostle of Allah, and I showed pity and expressed my condolences to them for their deceased relation.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: You might have gone to the graveyard with them.

She replied: I seek refuge in Allah! I heard you referring to what you mentioned.

He said: If you had gone to the graveyard...He then mentioned severe words about it.

I then asked Rabi'ah (a narrator of this tradition) about al-kuda (stony land). He replied: I think it means the graves.


Book 20, Number 3122:

Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) cursed the wailing woman and the woman who listens to her.


Book 20, Number 3124:

Narrated AbuMusa:

Yazid ibn Aws said: I entered upon AbuMusa while he was at the point of death. His wife began to weep or was going to weep. AbuMusa said to her: Did you not hear what the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said? She said: Yes. The narrator said: She then kept silence. When AbuMusa died, Yazid said: I met the woman and asked her: What did AbuMusa mean when he said to you: Did you not hear what the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and the you kept silence? She replied: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: He who shaves (his head), shouts and tears his clothing does not belong to us.


Book 20, Number 3125:

Narrated A woman who took oath of allegiance:

Usayd ibn AbuUsayd, reported on the authority of a woman who took oath of allegiance (to the Prophet): One of the oaths which the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) received from us about the virtue was that we would not disobey him in it (virtue): that we would not scratch the face, nor wail, nor tear the front of the garments nor dishevel the hair.


Book 20, Number 3126:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Ja'far:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Prepare food for the family of Ja'far for there came upon them an incident which has engaged them.


Book 20, Number 3127:

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

A man had a shot of arrow in his chest or throat (the narrator is doubtful). So he died. He was shrouded in his clothes as he was. The narrator said: We were with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him).


Book 20, Number 3128:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) commanded to remove weapons and skins from the martyrs of Uhud, and that they should be buried with their blood and clothes.


Book 20, Number 3129:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The martyrs of Uhud were not washed, and they were buried with their blood. No prayer was offered over them.


Book 20, Number 3130:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) passed Hamzah who was killed and disfigured. He said: If Safiyyah were not grieved, I would have left him until the birds and beasts of prey would have eaten him, and he would have been resurrected from their bellies. The garments were scanty and the slain were in great number. So one, two and three persons were shrouded in one garment. The narrator Qutaybah added: They were then buried in one grave. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) asked: Which of the two learnt the Qur'an more? He then advanced him toward the qiblah (direction of prayer).


Book 20, Number 3131:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) passed by Hamzah who was disfigured (after being killed). He did not offer prayer over any martyr except him.


Book 20, Number 3134:

Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Do not unveil your thigh, and do not look at the thigh of the living and the dead.


Book 20, Number 3135:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

By Allah, we did not know whether we should take off the clothes of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) as we took off the clothes of our dead, or wash him while his clothes were on him. When they (the people) differed among themselves, Allah cast slumber over them until every one of them had put his chin on his chest.

Then a speaker spoke from a side of the house, and they did not know who he was: Wash the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) while his clothes are on him. So they stood round the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and washed him while he had his shirt on him. They poured water on his shirt, and rubbed him with his shirt and not with their hands. Aisha used to say: If I had known beforehand about my affair what I found out later, none would have washed him except his wives.


Book 20, Number 3144:

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: When one of you dies, and he possesses something, he should be shrouded in the garment of the Yemeni stuff.


Book 20, Number 3145:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was shrouded in three garments of white Yemeni stuff, among which was neither a shirt nor a turban.


Book 20, Number 3146:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) was shrouded in three garments of cotton.

The narrator said: Aisha was told that the people said that he was shrouded in two garments and one cloak. She replied: A cloak was brought but they returned it and did not shroud him in it.


Book 20, Number 3147:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was shrouded in three garments made in Najran: two garments and one shirt in which he died.


Book 20, Number 3148:

Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib:

Do not be extravagant in shrouding, for I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: Do not be extravagant in shrouding, for it will be quickly decayed.


Book 20, Number 3150:

Narrated Ubadah ibn as-Samit:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The best shroud is a lower garment and one which covers the whole body, and the best sacrifice is a horned ram.


Book 20, Number 3151:

Narrated Layla daughter of Qa'if ath-Thaqafiyyah:

I was one of those who washed Umm Kulthum, daughter of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him), when she died. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) first gave us lower garment, then shirt, then head-wear, then cloak (which covers the whole body), and then she was shrouded in another garment. She said: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was sitting at the door, and he had shroud with him. He gave us the garments one by one.


Book 20, Number 3153:

Narrated Al-Husayn ibn Wahwah:

Talhah ibn al-Bara' fell ill and the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) came to pay him a sick-visit. He said: I think Talhah has died; so tell me (about his death), and make haste, for it is not advisable that the corpse of a Muslim should remain withheld among his family.


Book 20, Number 3154:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) used to take a bath on account of sexual defilement, on Friday, for cupping and washing the dead.


Book 20, Number 3155:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: He who washes the dead should take a bath, and he who carries him should perform ablution.


Book 20, Number 3157:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

I saw the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) that he kissed Uthman ibn Maz'un while he was dead, and I saw that tears were flowing (from his eyes).


Book 20, Number 3158:

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

The people saw fire (light) in the graveyard and they went there. They found that the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was in a grave and he was saying: Give me your companion. This was a man who used to raise his voice while mentioning the name of Allah.


Book 20, Number 3159:

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

On the day of Uhud we brought the martyrs to bury them (at another place), but the crier of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) came and said: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) has commanded you to bury the martyrs at the place where they fell. So we took them back.


Book 20, Number 3160:

Narrated Malik ibn Hubayrah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If any Muslim dies and three rows of Muslims pray over him, it will assure him (of Paradise). When Malik considered those who accompanied a bier to be a few, he divided them into three rows in accordance with this tradition.


Book 20, Number 3165:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: A bier should not be followed by a loud voice (of wailing) or fire.


Book 20, Number 3170:

Narrated Ubadah ibn as-Samit:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to stand up for a funeral until the corpse was placed in the grave. A learned Jew (once) passed him and said: This is how we do. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) sat down and said: Sit down and act differently from them.


Book 20, Number 3171:

Narrated Thawban:

An animal was brought to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) while he was going with a funeral. He refused to ride on it. When the funeral was away, the animal was brought to him and he rode on it. He was asked about it. He said: The angels were on their feet. I was not to ride while they were walking. When they went away, I rode.


Book 20, Number 3173:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

I saw the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and AbuBakr and Umar walking before the funeral.


Book 20, Number 3174:

Narrated Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah:

(I think that the people of Ziyad informed me that he reported on the authority of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him): A rider should go behind the bier, and those on foot should walk behind it, in front of it, on its right and on its left keeping near it. Prayer should be offered over an abortion and forgiveness and mercy supplicated for its parents.


Book 20, Number 3176:

Narrated AbuBakrah:

Uyaynah ibn AbdurRahman reported on the authority of his father that he attended the funeral of Uthman ibn Abul'As. He said: We were walking slowly. AbuBakrah then joined us and he raised his flog at us and said: You have seen us when we were with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). We were walking quickly.


Book 20, Number 3177:

Narrated AbuBakrah:

Uyaynah also reported the aforementioned tradition (No. 3176) through a different chain of transmitters. This version goes: We attended the funeral of AbdurRahman ibn Samurah and he said: He (AbuBakrah) made his mule run quickly and pointed with the flog.


Book 20, Number 3178:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud:

We asked the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) about walking with the funeral. He replied: Not running (but walking quickly). If he (the dead person) was good, send him to it quickly; if he was otherwise, keep away the people of Hell. The bier should be followed and should not follow. Those who go in front of it are not accompanying it.


Book 20, Number 3179:

Narrated Jabir ibn Samurah:

A man fell ill and a cry was raised (for his death). So his neighbour came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and said to him: He has died. He asked: Who told you? He said: I have seen him. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: He has not died. He then returned.

A cry was again raised (for his death). He came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and said: He has died. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: He has not died. He then returned.

A cry was again raised over him. His wife said: Go to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and inform him. The man said: O Allah, curse him.

He said: The man then went and saw that he had killed himself with an arrowhead. So he went to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and informed him that he had died.

He asked: Who told you? He replied: I myself saw that he had killed himself with arrowheads. He asked: Have you seen him? He replied: Yes. He then said: Then I shall not pray over him.


Book 20, Number 3180:

Narrated AbuBarzah al-Aslami:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) did not pray over Ma'iz ibn Malik, and he did not prohibit to pray over him.


Book 20, Number 3181:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him), died when he was eighteen months old. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) did not pray over him.


Book 20, Number 3182:

Narrated Al-Bahiyy:

When Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) died, he prayed over him at the place where he used to sit.


Book 20, Number 3182A:

Narrated Ata':

AbuDawud said: I recited to Sa'id ibn Ya'qub at-Taliqani saying: Ibn al-Mubarak transmitted to you from Ya'qub ibn al-Qa'qa' on the authority of Ata' that the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) prayed over his son Ibrahim when he was seventy days old.


Book 20, Number 3185:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If anyone prays over the dead in the mosque, there is nothing on him.


Book 20, Number 3187:

Narrated Abdullah Ibn Abbas; AbuSa'id al-Khudri; AbuQatadah; AbuHurayrah:

Yahya ibn Subayh said: Ammar client of al-Harith ibn Nawfal told me that he attended the funeral of Umm Kulthum, and her son. The body of the boy was placed near the imam. I objected to it. Among the people there were Ibn Abbas, AbuSa'id al-Khudri, AbuQatadah and AbuHurayrah. They said: This is the sunnah (established practice of the Prophet).


Book 20, Number 3188:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

Nafi' AbuGhalib said: I was in the Sikkat al-Mirbad. A bier passed and a large number of people were accompanying it.

They said: Bier of Abdullah ibn Umayr. So I followed it. Suddenly I saw a man, who had a thin garment on riding his small mule. He had a piece of cloth on his head to protect himself from the sun. I asked: Who is this important man? People said: This is Anas ibn Malik.

When the bier was placed, Anas stood and led the funeral prayer over him while I was just behind him, and there was no obstruction between me and him. He stood near his head, and uttered four takbirs (Allah is Most Great). He neither lengthened the prayer nor hurried it. He then went to sit down. They said: AbuHamzah, (here is the bier of) an Ansari woman. They brought her near him and there was a green cupola-shaped structure over her bier. He stood opposite her hips and led the funeral prayer over her as he had led it over the man. He then sat down.

Al-Ala' ibn Ziyad asked: AbuHamzah, did the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say the funeral prayer over the dead as you have done, uttering four takbirs (Allah is Most Great) over her, and standing opposite the head of a man and the hips of a woman?

He replied: Yes. He asked: AbuHamzah, did you fight with the Apostle of Allah? He replied: Yes. I fought with him in the battle of Hunayn. The polytheists came out and invaded us so severely that we saw our horses behind our backs. Among the people (i.e. the unbelievers) there was a man who was attacking us, and striking and wounding us (with his sword). Allah then defeated them. They were then brought and began to take the oath of allegiance to him for Islam.

A man from among the companions of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: I make a vow to myself that if Allah brings the man who was striking us (with his sword) that day, I shall behead him. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) kept silent and the man was brought (as a captive).

When he saw the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), he said: Apostle of Allah, I have repented to Allah. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) stopped (for a while) receiving his oath of allegiance, so that the other man might fulfil his vow. But the man began to wait for the order of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) for his murder. He was afraid of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) to kill him. When the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) saw that he did not do anything, he received his oath of allegiance. The man said: Apostle of Allah, what about my vow? He said: I stopped (receiving his oath of allegiance) today so that you might fulfil your vow. He said: Apostle of Allah, why did you not give any signal to me? The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: It is not worthy of a Prophet to give a signal.

AbuGhalib said: I asked (the people) about Anas standing opposite the hips of a woman. They told me that this practice was due to the fact that (in the days of the Prophet) there were no cupola-shaped structures over the biers of women. So the imam used to stand opposite the hips of a woman to hide her from the people.


Book 20, Number 3193:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: When you pray over the dead, make a sincere supplication for him.


Book 20, Number 3194:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

Ali ibn Shammakh said: I was present with Marwan who asked AbuHurayrah: Did you hear how the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to pray over the dead? He said: Even with the words that you said. (The narrator said: They exchanged hot words between them before that.)

AbuHurayrah said: O Allah, Thou art its Lord. Thou didst create it, Thou didst guide it to Islam, Thou hast taken its spirit, and Thou knowest best its inner nature and outer aspect. We have come as intercessors, so forgive him.


Book 20, Number 3195:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

When the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) prayed over a dead person, he said: O Allah, forgive those of us who are living and those of us who are dead, those of us who are present and those of us who are absent, our young and our old, our male and our female. O Allah, to whomsoever of us Thou givest life grant him life as a believer, and whomsoever of us Thou takest in death take him in death as a follower of Islam. O Allah, do not withhold from us the reward (of faith) and do not lead us astray after his death.


Book 20, Number 3196:

Narrated Wathilah ibn al-Asqa':

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) led us in prayer over bier of a Muslim and I heard him say: O Allah, so and so, son of so and so, is in Thy protection, so guard him from the trial in the grave. (AbdurRahman in his version said: "In Thy protection and in Thy nearer presence, so guard him from the trial in the grave) and the punishment in Hell. Thou art faithful and worthy of praise. O Allah, forgive him and show him mercy. Thou art the forgiving and the merciful one." AbdurRahman said: "On the authority of Marwan ibn Janah."


Book 20, Number 3200:

Narrated Al-Muttalib:

When Uthman ibn Maz'un died, he was brought out on his bier and buried. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) ordered a man to bring him a stone, but he was unable to carry it. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) got up and going over to it rolled up his sleeves.

The narrator Kathir told that al-Muttalib remarked: The one who told me about the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: I still seem to see the whiteness of the forearms of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) when he rolled up his sleeves. He then carried it and placed it at his head saying: I am marking my brother's grave with it, and I shall bury beside him those of my family who die.


Book 20, Number 3201:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Breaking a dead man's bone is like breaking it when he is alive.


Book 20, Number 3202:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The niche in the side of the grave is for us and the excavation in the middle is for others.


Book 20, Number 3203:

Narrated Amir:

Ali, Fadl and Usamah ibn Zayd washed the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and they put him in his grave. Marhab or Ibn AbuMarhab told me that they also made AbdurRahman ibn Awf join them.

When Ali became free, he said: The People of the man serve him.


Book 20, Number 3205:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Yazid:

AbuIshaq said: Al-Harith left his will that Abdullah ibn Yazid should offer his funeral prayer; so he prayed over him. He then put him in the grave from the side of his legs and said: This is a Sunnah (model practice of the Prophet).


Book 20, Number 3206:

Narrated Al-Bara' ibn Azib:

We went out with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) to the funeral of a man of the Ansar, but when we reached the grave, the niche in the side had not yet been made, so the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) sat down facing the qiblah, and we sat down along with him.


Book 20, Number 3207:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:

When the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) placed the dead in the grave, he said: In the name of Allah, and following the Sunnah of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him).


Book 20, Number 3208:

Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib:

I said to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him): Your old and astray uncle has died. He said: Go and bury your father, and then do not do anything until you come to me. So I went, buried him and came to him. He ordered me (to take a bath), so I took a bath, and he prayed for me.


Book 20, Number 3209:

Narrated Hisham ibn Amir:

The Ansar came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) on the day of Uhud and said: We have been afflicted with wound and fatigue. What do you command us?

He said: Dig graves, make them wide, bury two or three in a single grave.

He was asked: Which of them should be put first?

He replied: The one who knew the Qur'an most.

He (Hisham) said: My father Amir died on the day and was buried with two or one.


Book 20, Number 3214:

Narrated Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn AbuBakr:

I said to Aisha! Mother, show me the grave of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and his two Companions (Allah be pleased with them). She showed me three graves which were neither high nor low, but were spread with soft red pebbles in an open space.


Book 20, Number 3215:

Narrated Uthman ibn Affan:

Whenever the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) became free from burying the dead, he used to stay at him (i.e. his grave) and say: Seek forgiveness for your brother, and beg steadfastness for him, for he will be questioned now.


Book 20, Number 3216:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: There is no slaughtering (at the grave) in Islam.


Book 20, Number 3224:

Narrated Bashir, the Client of the Apostle of Allah:

Bashir's name in pre-Islamic days was Zahm ibn Ma'bad. When he migrated to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). He asked: What is your name? He replied: Zahm. He said: No, you are Bashir.

He (Bashir) said: When I was walking with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) he passed by the graves of the polytheists. He said: They lived before (a period of) abundant good. He said this three times. He then passed by the graves of Muslims. He said: They received abundant good.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) suddenly saw a man walking in shoes between the graves. He said: O man, wearing the shoes! Woe to thee! Take off thy shoes. So the man looked (round), When he recognized the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), he took them off and threw them away.


Book 20, Number 3227:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

People with a bier passed by the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). They (the companions) spoke highly of him. He said: Paradise is certain for him. Then some people with another (bier) passed by him. They spoke very badly of him. He said: Hell is certain for him. He then said: Some of you are witness to others.


Book 20, Number 3230:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) cursed women who visit graves, those who built mosques over them and erected lamps (there).


[Islamic Server Home] | [Reference Materials] | [Glossary] | [Other Islamic Sites] | [Email MSA-USC]