The Deceased (Janaza) in Islam
Contents
- Four Things Compulsory for the Preparation of the Deceased
- Washing the Deceased
- The Minimum Shrouding
- The Pillars of Funeral Prayer
- The Minimum Depth for a Grave
- The Exhumation of the Deceased
- Seeking Assistance (Istianat)
- Commentary and Note
- Back to: Islamic Shariah, Theology and Jurisprudence
The Four Things Compulsory for the Preparation of the Deceased
(فصل) الذي يلزم للميت أربع خصال : غسلة وتكفينة والصلاة علية ودفنه .
Chapter
There are Four Things Compulsory for the Preparation of the
Deceased:
1. To wash the deceased.
2. To shroud the
deceased.
3. To perform ṣalāh upon the deceased.
4. To bury the
deceased.
Washing the Deceased
(فصل) أقل الغسل : تعميم بدنه بالماء. وأكمله أن يغسل سوأتيه وأن يزيل القذر من
أنفه وأن يوضئه وأن يدلك بدنه بالسدر وأن يصب الماء عليه ثلاثا.
Chapter
The minimum wash is to pass water over the entire body and the
best is to wash the private organs, to remove filth from the nose, to
wash the limbs of wuḍūʾ, to rub the body with lotus leaves and to pour
water over the body thrice
The Minimum Shrouding
(فصل) أقل الكفن : ثوب يعمه.، وأكمله للرجال ثلاث لفائف ، وللمرأة قميص وخمار
وإزار ولفافتان .
Chapter
The minimum shrouding is one cloth that covers the whole body.
The perfect shroud for a male is three cloths
and for a female, a
shirt, a scarf, an lower garment and two cloths
The Pillars of Funeral Prayer
(فصل) أركان صلاة الجنازة سبعة :الأول النية ،الثاني أربع تكبيرات ، الثالث القيام على القادر ، الرابع قراءة الفاتحة ،الخامس الصلاة على النبي صلى الله علية وسلم بعد الثانية،السادس الدعاء للميت بعد الثالثة ،السابع السلام
Chapter
The Pillars of Funeral Prayer (salat Janazah) are
Seven:
1. Intention.
2. Four takbirs.
3. To stand for
those who are able.
4. Recitation of Surah al-Fatihah.
5. Salawat
upon Nabi after the second takbir
6. Duʿa for the deceased after the
third takbir.
7. Salam.
The Minimum Depth for a Grave
(فصل) أقل الدفن : حفرة تكتم رائحته وتحرسه من السباع .وأكمله قامة وبسطة، ويوضع
خده على التراب ويجب توجيهه إلى القبلة .
Chapter
The minimum depth for a grave is a hole that conceals the odour
of the body and protects it from animals.
The perfect depth is the
height of a man with his arms raised and fingers open, his cheek should
be placed on the soil,
and it is compulsory to make him (the
deceased) face the qiblah.
The Exhumation of the Deceased
(فصل) ينبش الميت لأربع خصال : للغسل إذا لم يتغير ولتوجيهه إلى القبلة وللمال
إذا دفن معه ، والمرأة إذا دفن جنينها وأمكنت حياته .
Chapter
There are Four Factors That Permit the Exhumation of the
Deceased:
1. To give a bath as long as the (body of the) deceased
has not decomposed.
2. To make the deceased face towards the qiblah.
3.
For wealth if it was buried with the deceased.
4. For a woman when her
foetus is buried with her and there is a possibility that it is still alive.
Seeking Assistance (Istianat)
(فصل) الإستعانات أربع خصال : مباحة وخلاف الأولى ومكروهه وواجبة فالمباحة هي تقريب الماء ، وخلاف الأولى هي صب الماء على نحو المتوضئ ،والمكروهه هي لمن يغسل أعضاءه ، والواجبة هي للمريض عند العجز.
Chapter
There are Four Rulings for Seeking Assistance:
1.
Permissible.
2. Undesirable.
3. Makrūh (disliked).
4. Wājib
(compulsory).
It is permissible to ask for water to be brought
close.
It is undesirable to ask for water to be poured towards the one
making wuḍūʾ.
It is makrūh for someone else to wash the limbs.
It is
wājib for a sick person who is incapable.
Commentary and Note on Janazah (Deceased)
1 For the Muslim deceased who did not die in the state of ibram nor as a
martyr. When a person dies, it is mustahab (recommended) that his
closest mabram (unmarriageable kin) closes his eyes and jaws in order to make
his joints flexible, gently removes his clothes and covers him with a
light cloth and places something heavy on his stomach.
2 It is
mustahab that the one washing the deceased be trustworthy so that he can be
relied on to wash the deceased completely and so forth. If he notices
something good, it is sunnah to mention it, but if he notices something bad,
it is unlawful to mention it as this is backbiting.
3 It is
haram to look at the ' awrah of the deceased or touch
it except with a cloth. It is mustahab not to look at or directly touch the
other parts of the body save with a cloth.
4 It is wajib to perform
;;salah over the deceased. However, it is haram to give a bath and to offer
;;salah upon a martyr. The obligation is fulfilled if a single Muslim male who
has reached the age of mumayyiz (discrimination) prays over the
deceased. It is recommended to perform the janazah ;;salah (funeral prayer) in
a j ama ' ah (group). It is mustahab to pray it at a masjid and makn1h to
offer the ;;salah at a cemetery.
5 Then the deceased is buried obligatorily. It is best to bury him in the cemetery.
6 It is wajib for the one washing the deceased to cover the ' awrah of the deceased. It is sunnah that no one be present except him (one washing) and his assistant. Incense should be burned from the start of washing till the finish. It is best to wash the body under a roof, and best that cold water be used, heating it when necessary so as to remove filth that could not otherwise be removed or when the weather is cold, since the deceased suffers from it just as a living person would.
7 It is mustal)ab to scent the shroud with incense, to sprinkle on it an aromatic compound of camphor, reed perfume etc., to place cotton and perfume on the apertueres of the body such as the eyes, mouth, nostril, and ears and on places that touch the ground in prostration, and to perfume the entire body except if a person dies while in a state of il)ram
8 The conditions of janazah salah (funeral prayer) are the same as other
salah, but in addition require: that the deceased 's body has been washed
before the salah and that the imam and the ma 'mum do not stand ahead of the
body during the salah.
9 It suffices that
one merely intends to pray four
takbirs over the
particular deceased person as a fard kifayah
act. The intention must coincide with the takblrat al-ihram.
10 One says, "Allahu Akbar '< four times in the janazah salah, raising one's hand to shoulder level at each one, and it is mustahab each time to fold the right hand over the left.
11 After takblrat al-iflram, it is wajib to recite Sl1rah al-Fatihah. It is mustahab to recite ta ' awwudh before it and "Amin " after it, but not to recite the "du 'a iftitah" or a sl1rah therein.
12 It is wajib to recite salah upon NabI after which it is sunnah to supplicate for the believer. It is also sunnah to recite salah upon the family of Rasulullah and to say, "Alhamdulillah " before the alah upon NabI .
13 The supplication for the deceased, the minimum being, "O Allah, forgive this deceased ".
14 Then one says, "Assalamu 'alaykum " twice, the first being wajib and the second sunnah.
15 It is mustahab for the person burying the deceased: (1) to say, "Bismillahi
wa 'ala millati Rasiilillah", (2) to supplicate to Allah for the
forgiveness of the deceased, (3) to place a block as a pillow for him and to
pull-back the shroud enough to lay his cheek directly on the surface of
the block and, (4) to place the deceased upon his right side.
16 It
is wajib to exhume a deceased who was buried without been given a bath or
tayammum contrary if the deceased was buried without being shrouded. In such a
case he should not be exhumed.
17 As long as the body of the deceased has not decomposed.
18 It is wajib to exhume a deceased even after the body of the deceased has decomposed; to take that wealth that has been buried with the deceased whether the owner demands it or not.
19 That foetus which is six
months of age or more because it is
necessary to remove a living baby
from the womb of the deceased before burial.