FUNERAL

  • When not carrying it, one should walk in front or beside the bier.
  • No idle talk is permitted. One should either be silent or better still praying or doing Zikr.
  • No music or outburst of emotion is allowed.
  • When you enter the cemetery, you should recite: Assalam alaikum yaa ahlil kuboor (Peace be upon you O people of the graves).

Burial Procedure

  1. A grave is dug deep enough to totally hide the body of the deceased.
  2. The grave should be always perpendicular (Horizontal) to the direction of Qiblah.
  3. Only men are allowed to attend the burial.
  4. All Muslims who are present should remember death, the hereafter, and that one day he too will be buried.
  5. They should keep quiet (No talking unless it is necessary).
  6. The deceased’s male relatives are expected to put the body in the grave, putting the   body in the grave should be carried out only by Muslim men.
  7. A female is placed in her grave either by her husband, her sons, her father, her   brothers, or her uncle.
  8. The deceased’s body should be entered to the grave from the middle of the grave.
  9. Those who enter the body of the deceased in the grave should say: Bismilllah wa ala millati rasulilllah, [In the name of Allah and in the faith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ].
  10. The deceased’s body should rest on his right side, and should be close to the wall and     supported so that the body will not fall back, the deceased’s face should be towards the Qiblah.
  11. Those who put the deceased in the grave should not have had sexual intercourse with their wives the night before and should be in a state of Tahara.
  12. They should undo the ties on the head and the feet.
  13. They should put above the body a layer of wood or big stones, so that earth will not be put directly on the body when they fill the grave with earth.
  14. After the body is totally covered, it is desirable to throw three handfuls of soil into the grave, with each handful saying: Minhaa khalaqnaa kum [From the earth did We create you] Wa feehaa Nu’eedu kum [And into it shall We return you] Wa minhaa nukhrijukum taaratan ‘ukhraa [And from it shall We bring you out once again].
    1. Then the grave should be filled up with sand or soil that was taken out from the grave; no additional soil should be brought from elsewhere.
    2. It is allowable to put a mark on the grave or a stone to know the grave.
    3. Just after the burial all Muslims, including the deceased’s relatives, may stay in the cemetery for a while and make dua’ (Supplicate) for the deceased, since he is being questioned by the Angels.
    4. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in an authentic Hadith said: “Make dua’ of Istighfar (Supplicate for forgiveness) for your brother and request steadfastness for him because he is now being questioned” (Abu Dawood).

NOTE:

  • It is recommended that women and girls do not enter the cemetery and come closer to the grave to see the burial process.
  • It is prohibited to build any form of construction on the grave, or decorate the grave.
  • Arranging day of mourning on the third day after death, or on the seventh, or on the twentieth day, or on the fortieth day, or on the anniversary of the death – all are Bid’ah practices which people have introduced; there is no authentic Sunnah for doing the same.
  • Transferring the deceased to another country is not allowed.
  • There is no Islamic teaching of revealing the face of the deceased after putting the body in the grave.
  • There is no Islamic teaching of shouting special Dhikr (Certain words to remember Allah) before, during, and after burial.
  • There is no Islamic teaching of reading the Quran in the cemetery.
  • There is no Islamic teaching of putting flowers, food, water, photograph, money or anything around the grave that will benefit the deceased.
  • There is no Islamic teaching of slaughtering an animal during or after burial.
  • There is no Islamic teaching of staying in a state of sadness for one year.
  • There is no Islamic teaching that the relatives of the deceased should wear black clothes.
  • It is prohibited to cremate the body of dead Muslim, even if the deceased requested it before his death.
  • It is prohibited to put candles on the grave. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said in an authentic Hadith: “Curse those who light lamps on graves” (Authentic-Ahmed).
  • It is also disliked (Makruh) to pray in the cemetery (Bukhari).
  • Performing autopsy on a dead Muslim is totally prohibited, unless it is requested by court order.

SPECIAL CASES

Miscarried Fetus:

  • If the fetus is less than four months old (Mother was pregnant for less than four months) then the fetus
  • may not be washed; the fetus should be wrapped in a piece of white cloth and buried. Then there is no
  • Salat-ul-Janazah for this fetus. If the fetus is more than four months old (Mother was pregnant for more than four months), then the fetus may be washed, shrouded (Using one or two winding sheets to cover the whole body), and then Muslims have the choice whether to perform Salat-ul-Janazah or not.

Children:

  • Before reaching the age of puberty, a child may be washed by males or females.
  • Shrouding a child: for females use a shirt and two winding sheets and for males two or three   winding sheets may be used
  • For those children who reached the age of puberty, they should be dealt with as an adult {Female child-like female adult, and male child-like male adult}, but then Salat-ul-Janazah must be performed.

Martyr:

  • The body of a Martyr should not be washed, nor be shrouded but buried with the same clothes that people found him with.
  • The strongest opinion of Muslim scholars is not to offer Salat-ul-Janazah for martyrs since
  • Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not offer it for the martyrs of the battle of Uhud.