Sunan Abi Dawud: Funerals (Kitab Al-Jana'iz)

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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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: Messenger of Allah, what are illnesses? I swear by Allah, I never fell ill.

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

They said: Yes, Messenger 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.

on his father's authority said his grandfather reported: He was a Companion of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

Abu Dawud said: Ibn Nufail added in his version: "He then enables him to endure that." The agreed version goes: "So that He may bring him to the rank previously decreed from him by Allah."

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) many times say: When a servant of Allah is accustomed to do a good work, then becomes ill or goes on journey, what was accustomed to do when he was well and staying at home will be recorded for him.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

I said: Messenger of Allah, I know the severest verse in the Qur'an. He asked: What is that verse. A'ishah? She replied: Allah's words: "If anyone does evil, he will be requited for it." He said: Do you know A'ishah, that when a believer is afflicted with a calamity or a thorn, it serves as an atonement for his evil deed. He who is called to account will be punished. She said: Does Allah not say: "He truly will recieve an easy reckoning." He said: This is the presentation, A'ishah. If anyone criticized in reckoning, he will be punished.

Abu Dawud said: This is the version of Ibn Bashshar. He said: Ibn Abi Mulaikah narrated to us.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went out to visit 'Abd Allah b. Ubayy during his illness of which he died. When he entered upon him, he realised death on him. He said: I used to forbid you from the love of Jews. He ('Abd Allah) said: As'ad b. Zurarah hated them. So what (the benefited) ? When he died, his son came and said: Prophet of Allah, 'Abd Allah b. Ubayy has died, give me your shirt, so that I shroud him in it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took off his shirt and gave it to him.

A young Jew became ill. The Prophet (ﷺ) went to visit him. He sat down by his head and said to him: Accept Islam. He looked at his father who was beside him near his head, and he said: Obey Abu al-Qasim. So he accepted Islam, and the Prophet (ﷺ) stood up saying: Praise be to Allah Who has saved him through me from Hell.

The Prophet (ﷺ) would visit me (during my illness) riding neither a mule nor a pony.

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

Abu Dawud said: Only the people of Basrah have narrated the tradition on visiting the sick after performing ablution.

If a man visits a patient in the evening, seventy thousand angels come along with him seeking forgiveness from Allah for him till the morning, and he will have a garden in the Paradise.

This tradition has been narrated by Mansur from al-Hakkam as narrated by Shu'bah.

Abu Musa paid a sick visit to al-Hasan b. 'Ali.

Abu Dawud said: He narrated the tradition to the same effect as narrated by Shu'bah.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been transmitted by 'Ali from the Prophet (ﷺ) without any sound manner.

When Sa'd b. Mu'adh suffered affliction on the day of Trench (i.e. the battle of Trench) a man shot an arrow in the vein of his hand. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) pitched a tent for him the mosque so that he might visit him from near.

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

That 'Abd al-Rahman b.'Awf said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: When you hear that it is breaking out in a certain territory, do not go there. If it breaks out in the territory you are in, do not go out fleeing away from it. By "it" he referred to the plague.

That her father said: I had a complaint at Mecca. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to pay a sick-visit to me. He put his hand on my forehead, wiped my chest and belly, and then said: O Allah! heal up Sa'd and complete his immigration.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Feed the hungry, visit the sick and free the captive. Sufyan said: al-'ani means captive.

The Prophet (ﷺ) 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.

The Prophet (ﷺ) 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 your sake, or walk at a funeral for your sake.

Abu Dawud said: Ibn As-Sarh (one of the narrators) said: "Ilas-salat (To the Salat)".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: No one of you should wish for death for any calamity that befalls him, but he should say: O Allah! cause me to live so long as my life is better for me ; and cause me to die where death is better for me.

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: No one of you should wish for death. He then mentioned the rest of the tradition in a similar manner.

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

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to visit Abdullah ibn Thabit who was ill. He found that he was dominated (by the divine decree). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Leave them, when the divine decree is made, no woman should weep.

They (the people) asked: What is necessary happening, Messenger of Allah? He replied: Death. His daughter said: I hope you will be a martyr, for you have completed your preparations for jihad. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

Banu al-Harith b. 'Amir b. Nawfal bought Khubaib. Khubaib killed al-Harith b. 'Amir on the day of Badr. Khubaib remained with them as a prisoner until they agreed on his killing. He borrowed razor form the daughter of al-Harith to shave his pubes. She let it to him. A small child of her crept to him while she was inattentive. When she same, she found him alone and the child was on this thigh and the razor was in his hand. She was terrified and he realized its effect on her. He said: Do you fear that I shall kill him ? I am not going to do that.

Abu Dawud said: Shu'aib b. Abi Hamzah transmitted this narrative from al-Zuhri. He said: 'Ubaid Allah b. 'Ayyash told me that the daughter of al-Harith told him that when they gathered for killing him, he borrowed a razor from her to shave (his pubes). She lent it to him.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say three days before his death: No one of you dies but he had good faith in Allah.

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

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): When you attend dying man, you should say good words, for the angels say Amin to what you say. When Abu Salamah died, I said: What should I say, Messenger of Allah? He said: O Allah forgive him, and give us something good in exchange. She said: So Allah gave me Muhammad (ﷺ) in exchange for him.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone's last words are "There is no god but Allah" he will enter Paradise.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Recite to those of you who are dying "There is no god but Allah."

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon Abu Salamah, his eyes were fixedly open. So he closed them. The members of his family cried. He said: Do not pray for yourself anything but good, for the angels utter Amin to what you say. He then said: O Allah, forgive Abu Salamah, raise his rank among those who are guided, and grant him a succession in his descendants who remain. Forgive both us and him, Lord of the universe. O Allah,make his grave spacious for him, and grant him light in it.

Abu Dawud said: The eyes of the deceased should be closed after his expiry. I heard Muhammad b. al-Nu'man al-Muqri say: I heard a man who was devoted to Allah say: I closed the eyes of Ja'far al-Mu'allim when he was dying. He was a man devoted to Allah. I saw him in a dream on the night he died. He said: The biggest thing for me was closing the eyes by you before I died.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: When one of you is afflicted with a calamity, he should say: "We belong to Allah, and to Him we do return." O Allah, I expect reward from Thee from this affliction, so give me reward for it, and give me a better compensation.

The Prophet (ﷺ) was covered with striped Yemen garment (after his death).

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

When Zaid b. Harithah, Ja'far and 'Abd Allah b. Rawahah were killed, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat down in the mosque and grief was visible in his face. Then he (the narrator) mentioned the rest of the tradition.

We buried a deceased person in the company of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). When we had finished, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to her: What brought you out of your house, Fatimah?

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

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

The Prophet (ﷺ) came upon a woman who was weeping for her child. He said to her: Fear Allah and have patience. She said: What have you to do with my calamity ? She was then told that he was the Prophet (ﷺ). She, therefore, came to him. She did not find doorkeepers at his gate. She said: I did not recognize you, Messenger of Allah. He said: Endurance is shown only at a first blow.

A daughter of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent him message while I and Sa'd were with him and I think Ubayy was also there: My son or daughter (the narrator is doubtful) is dying, so come to us. He sent her greeting, saying at the same time: Say! What Allah has been taken belongs to Him, what He has given (belongs to Him), and He has appointed time for everything. She then sent a message adjuring him (to come to her). So he came to her and the child who was on the point of death was placed in the hearts of those whom He wished. Allah shows compassion only to those of His servants who are compassionate.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: A child was born to me at night and I named him Ibrahim after his. He then narrated the rest of the tradition. Anas said: I saw it at the point of the death before the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Tears began to fall from the eyes of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He said: The eye weeps and the heart grieves, but we say only what our Lord is pleased with, and we are grieved for you, Ibrahim.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prohibited us to wail.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the wailing woman and the woman who listens to her.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: The dead is punished because of his family's weeping for him. When this was mentioned to 'Aishah, she said: Ibn 'Umar forgot and made a mistake. The Prophet (ﷺ) passed by grave and he said: The man in the grave is being punished while his family is weeping for him. She then recited: "No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another."

The narrator Abu Mu'awiyyah said: (The Prophet passed) by the grave of a Jew.

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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the you kept silence? She replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: He who shaves (his head), shouts and tears his clothing does not belong to us.

One of the oaths which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

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

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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).

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

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

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked: Which of the two learnt the Qur'an more? He then advanced him toward the qiblah (direction of prayer).

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

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) combined two persons from among the martyrs of Uhud (in one garment), and said: Which of the two has learnt the Qur'an more ? When one of them was pointed to him, he advanced him in the grave, saying: I shall be witness to all these (martyrs) on the Day of Judgement. He then ordered them to be buried without being washed.

He combined two persons from among the martyrs of Uhud in one garment.

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

By Allah, we did not know whether we should take off the clothes of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) while his clothes are on him. So they stood round the Prophet (ﷺ) 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.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came in when his daughter died, and he said: Wash her with water and lotus leaves three or five times or more than that if you think fit, and put camphor, or some camphor in the last washing, then inform me when you finish. When we had finished we informed him, and he threw us his lower garment saying: Put it next to her body.

Malik's version has: that is, his lower garment (izar); and Musaddad did not say: He entered in.

We braided her hair in three plaits.

we braided her hair in three plaits and placed them behind her back, one plait of the front side and the two side plaits.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to them while washing her daughter: Begin with her right side, and the places where the ablution is performed.

(Wash her) seven times or more if you think fit.

Muhammad b. Sirin used to learn how to wash the dead from Umm 'Atiyyah: he would was with lotus leaves twice and with water and camphor for the third time.

The Prophet (ﷺ) made a speech one day and mentioned a man from among his Companions who died and was shrouded in a shroud of bad quality, and was buried at night. The Prophet (ﷺ) rebuked that man be buried at night until prayer was offered over him, except that a man was forced to do that. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When one of you shrouds his brother, he should use a shroud of good quality.

That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was shrouded in a garment of Yemeni stuff, it was then removed from him.

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

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

"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.

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

Abu Dawud said: The narrator 'Uthman said: In three garments: two red garments and a shirt in which he died.

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

Mus'ab b. 'Umari was killed on the day of Uhud. He had only a striped cloak. When we covered his head with it, his feet appeared, and when we covered his feet, his head appeared. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Cover his head with it, and cover his feet with some grass.

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

I was one of those who washed Umm Kulthum, daughter of the Prophet (ﷺ), when she died. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was sitting at the door, and he had shroud with him. He gave us the garments one by one.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: The best of your perfumes is musk.

Talhah ibn al-Bara' fell ill and the Prophet (ﷺ) 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.

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

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

This has been abrogated. When Ahmad b. Hanbal was asked about a man taking a bath after his washing the dead, I heard him say: Ablution is sufficient for him.

Abu Dawud said: The narrator Abu Salih made a mention of the narrator Ishaq, the client of Za'idah between him and Abu Hurairah. He said: The tradition of Mus'ab is weak. It contains many things that are not practised.

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

The people saw fire (light) in the graveyard and they went there. They found that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

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

The Prophet (ﷺ) 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.

We were forbidden accompany the biers, but it was not stressed upon us.

If anyone attends the funeral and prays over (the dead), he will get the reward of one qirat, and if anyone attends the funeral until the completion (of the burial), he will get the reward of two qirats, the smaller of them being equivalent of Uhud, or one of them being equivalent to Uhud.

'Abd Allah b.'Umar dont you hear what Abu Hurairah says ? He heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If anyone goes out of his house, accompanies bier and prays over it.... He then mentioned the rest of the tradition as narrated by Sufyan. Thereupon Ibn 'Umar sent someone to 'Aishah (asking her about it). She replied: Abu Hurairah spoke the truth.

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: If any Muslim dies and forty men associate nothing with Allah stand over his bier. Allah will accept them as intercessors for him.

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

Abu Dawud said: Harun (one of the narrators) added: "And it should not be preceded (with those) either."

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: When you see a funeral, stand up for it till it leaves you behind or it is placed (on the ground).

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: When you follow a funeral, do not sit until the bier is placed (on the ground).

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been narrated by al-Thawri (i.e. Sufyan) from Suhail, from his father on the authority of Abu Hurairah. This version has: until it (the bier) is placed on the ground. It has also been narrated by Abu Mu'wiyah from Suhail. This has: Until it is placed in the grave.

Abu Dawud said: Sufyan's version is more guarded than that of Abu Mu'awiyah.

We were with the Prophet (ﷺ) when a funeral passed hi and he stood up for it. When we went to carry it, we found that it was a funeral of a Jew. We, therefore said: Messenger of Allah, this is the funeral of a Jew. He said: Death is fearful event, so when you see a funeral, stand up.

The Prophet (ﷺ) stood up for a funeral (to show respect) and thereafter he sat down.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) sat down and said: Sit down and act differently from them.

An animal was brought to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

The Prophet (ﷺ) offered funeral prayer over Ibn al-Dahdah while we were present. He was then brought a horse, and it was tied until he rode it. It then began to gallop and we were running around it.

I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr and Umar walking before the funeral.

(I think that the people of Ziyad informed me that he reported on the authority of the Prophet (ﷺ): 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.

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: Walk quickly with a funeral, for if the dead person was good it is a good condition to which you are sending him on, but it he was otherwise it is an evil of which you are riding yourselves.

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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). We were walking quickly.

We attended the funeral of AbdurRahman ibn Samurah and he said: He (AbuBakrah) made his mule run quickly and pointed with the flog.

We asked the Prophet (ﷺ) 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.

Abu Dawud said: The narrator Yahya b. 'Abd Allah is weak. He is Yahya al-Jabir

Abu Dawud said: This is from Kufah, and Abu Majidah is from Basrah.

Abu Dawud said: Abu Majidah is obscure.

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

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

A cry was again raised over him. His wife said: Go to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) 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.

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

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

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

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

I swear by Allah, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed over Suhail b. al-Baida' in the mosque.

I swear by Allah, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed in the mosque over the two sons of al-Baida': Suhail and his brother.

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

There were three times at which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to forbid us to pray or bury our dead - when the sun begins to rise till it is fully up, when the sun is at its height midway till it passes the meridian, and when the sun draws near to setting till it sets, or as he 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).

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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger 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 (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) kept silent and the man was brought (as a captive).

When he saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he said: Messenger of Allah, I have repented to Allah. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for his murder. He was afraid of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to kill him. When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saw that he did not do anything, he received his oath of allegiance. The man said: Messenger 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: Messenger of Allah, why did you not give any signal to me? The Prophet (ﷺ) 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.

Abu Dawud said: The saying of the Prophet (ﷺ) "I have been commanded to fight against the people until they say: There is no god bu Allah" abrogated this tradition of fulfilling the vow by his remark: "I have repented".

I prayed behing the Prophet (ﷺ) over a woman who died in childbirth, and he stood opposite her waist.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed a grave dug freshly. They arranged a row and uttered four takbirs over it. I asked al-Sha'bi: Who told you ? He replied: A reliable person whom 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas attended.

Zaid b. Arqam used to utter four takbirs (Allah is Most Great) over our dead person (during prayer). He uttered five takbirs on a dead person. So I asked him. He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to utter those.

Abu Dawud said: I remember the tradition of Ibn al-Muthanna in a more guarded way.

I prayed over a dead person along with Ibn 'Abbas. He recited Surat al-Fatihah and he said: This is the Sunnah.

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

I was present with Marwan who asked AbuHurayrah: Did you hear how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.)

Abu Hurairah 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.

Abu Dawud said: Shu'bah made a mistake in mentioning the name of 'Ali b. Shammakh. He said in his version: 'Uthman b. Shammas.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili say that Ahmad b. Hanbal said: In every meeting which I attended with Hammad b. Zaid he forbade to narrate this traditions from 'Abd al-Warith and Ja'far b. Sulaiman.

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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."

A negress (or a youth) used to sweep the mosque. The Prophet (ﷺ) missed him, and when he asked about him the people told him that he had died. He said: Why have you not informed me ? He said: Lead me to his grave. So they led him and he prayed over him.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave the people news of death of Negus on the day on which he died, took them out to the place of prayer, drew them up in rows and said: "Allah is Most Great" four times.

On the authority of his father: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to proceed to the land of Negus. Mentioning the rest of the tradition he said that Negus said: I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and it is he about whom Christ son of Mary gave good news. It I were not in the land which I am, I would come to him and carry his shoes.

When Uthman ibn Maz'un died, he was brought out on his bier and buried. The Prophet (ﷺ) ordered a man to bring him a stone, but he was unable to carry it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: I still seem to see the whiteness of the forearms of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

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

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

Ali, Fadl and Usamah ibn Zayd washed the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

That 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf alighted in the grave of the Prophet (ﷺ). He said: I still seem to see the four of them.

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).

We went out with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 (ﷺ) sat down facing the qiblah, and we sat down along with him.

When the Prophet (ﷺ) placed the dead in the grave, he said: In the name of Allah, and following the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). This is Muslim's version.

I said to the Prophet (ﷺ): 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.

The Ansar came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

"And deepen (the graves)."

This tradition has also been transmitted by Sa'd b. Hisham b. 'Amir with a different chain of narrators.

'Ali said to me: I am sending you on the same mission as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent me that I should not leave a high grave without leveling it and an image without obliterating it.

We were with Fudalah b. 'Ubaid at Rudis in the land of Rome. One of our Companions dies, Fudalah commanded us to dig his grave; it was (dug and) levelled. He then said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanding to level them.

Abu Dawud said: Rudis is an island, in the sea.

I said to Aisha! Mother, show me the grave of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

Abu 'Ali said: It is said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is forward, Abu Bakr is near his head and 'Umar is near is feet. His head is at the feet of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).

Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) 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.

Abu Dawud said: The full name of the narrator Buhair is Buhair b. Raisan.

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

'Abd al-Razzaq said: They used to slaughter cows or sheep at grave.

One day the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went out and prayed over the martyrs of Uhud like his prayer over the dead, and then returned.

The Prophet (ﷺ) prayed over the martyrs of Uhud after eight years like a man who bids farewell to the living and dead.

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) forbid to sit on the grave, to plaster it with gypsum, and to build any structure over it.

'Uthman said: "or anything added to it." Sulaiman b. Musa said: "or anything written on it." Musaddad did not mention in his version the words "or anything added to it."

Abu Dawud said: The word "and that" (wa an) remained hidden to me.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Allah's curse to be on the Jews, they made the graves of their Prophets mosques.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: It is better that one of you should sit on the live coals which burns his clothing and come in contact with his skin than that he should sit on a grave.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Do not sit on the graves, and do not pray facing them.

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

He (Bashir) said: When I was walking with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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 Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he took them off and threw them away.

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: When a servant (of Allah) is placed in his grave, and his Companions depart from him, he hears the stepping sound of their shoes.

A man was buried with my father. I had a desire at heart for that (place for my burial). So I took him out after six months. I did not find any change (in his body) except a few hair that touched the earth.

People with a bier passed by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). 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.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) visited his mother's grave and wept and cause those around him to weep. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then said: I asked my Lord's permission to pray for forgiveness for her, but I was not allowed. I then asked His permission to visit her grave, and I was allowed. So visit graves, for they make one mindful of death.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: I forbade you to visit graves, but you may now visit them, for in visiting them there is a reminder (of death).

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

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went out to the graveyard and said: Peace be upon you, inhabitants of the dwellings who are of the community of the believers. If Allah wills we shall join you.

To the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was brought man wearing ihram who was thrown by his she-camel and has his neck broken and had died. He then said: Shroud him in his two garments, was him with water and lotus leaves, but do not cover his head, for he will be raised on the Day of Resurrection saying the talbiyah.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal say: There are five rules of the law (sunan) in this tradition: "Shroud him in his two garment," that is, the dead should be shrouded in his two garments. "Wash him with water and lotus leaves," that is, washing all times should be with lotus leaves. Do not bring any perfume near him. The shroud will be made from the property (of the dead).

"Shroud him in two garments."

Abu Dawud said: The narrator Sulaiman said the Ayyub said: "his two garments," 'Amr said: "tow garments," Ibn 'Ubaid said that Ayyub said: "in two garments" and Amr said: "in his two garments." Sulaiman alone added: "do not put any perfume on him."

"in two garments".

A man wearing ihram was thrown by his she-camel and had his neck broken and he died. He was brought to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he said: Wash and shroud him, but do not cover his head and do not put any perfume on him, for he will be raised on the Day of Resurrection saying the talbiyah.