Funeral prayer
First sermon
Praise be to God, praise be to God, who made death a comfort for His righteous servants, transporting them from the house of worries, anguish, and distress, to the house of joy, happiness, and glad tidings. I bear witness that there is no god but God alone, with no partner, the Most High, the Great, the Forgiving, and I bear witness that our Prophet Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, that is the Chosen Chosen One, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family and companions who have attained the ranks of glory, and grant them abundant peace.As for the servants of God:
So I advise you and myself to fear God, so fear God as you should fear Him, and do not die unless you are Muslims.
O believers!Your religion, the religion of Islam, is a great religion that includes the rulings of a person in this world, his rulings upon his death, his rulings regarding his wealth and estate after his death, and his rulings in his isthmus, his afterlife, and his afterlife. God Almighty has honored the children of Adam and increased the honor of the believer, making washing him upon his death, shrouding him, praying for him, and then burying him among the obligations of sufficiency if sufficient Muslims perform them. They performed the obligatory duty for the rest of them, and if no one did it enough, they would all be sinful, especially those who witnessed his death.
Servants of God!Shrouding the dead and washing him is one of the obligations of sufficiency, and it is, by God, nothing but a blessing from God for this believer. He is washed as one of you washes from ritual impurity in order to meet the Messengers of God in his grave, and then meet his Lord, the Almighty, in a pure state. This is the right of the dead over the living.
Praying for the dead, O servants of God, is also one of the obligations of sufficiency, and yet the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, desired it to the extent that he arranged great rewards for it. He, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “Mr.Whoever attends a funeral so that prayers can be performed over it, it is as if he offered a carat, and whoever witnesses it until it is buried»[1]And in a novel[2]: «Until it is placed, it has two qiratsHe was asked about the carat? It was said: «Like a great mountain“And in some narrations[3]It was likened to Mount Uhud, an easy task that was rewarded with such a great and great reward that many Muslims missed.
Abdullah bin Omar, may God be pleased with them, was in the mosque of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and the end of the hadith was hidden from him and he understood its beginning. He was following the prayer at funerals, but the end of the hadith was hidden from him that whoever follows it until it is buried and until it is placed in its grave and until it is emptied is that he who offers two Qirats, so he sent to Aisha, may God be pleased with him. On her behalf, he asked her about the continuation of the hadith while he was sitting on the pebbles of the mosque. Then Aisha’s messenger came to him informing him of its authenticity on the authority of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. Do you know what Ibn Umar said? He took the pebbles from the mosque and struck them with his hand and said: By God, we have wasted many carats.
Servants of God!Today you are praying over your funerals, and tomorrow prayers will be prayed over you, so hasten to witness the funeral prayer, attend it, and follow it, and you will receive from God great rewards for simple deeds. Servants of God, beware of procrastination, and beware of underestimating, for there are some people who excuse themselves because they are busy, and their preoccupation is with things that do not increase their goodness in this world, and by God, not in the afterlife. As for following funerals and praying over them, they are deeds. It is easy, with great rewards, so be careful, may God protect you, to take advantage of your deeds and to compete to collect your rewards and attain the satisfaction of your Lord.
May God benefit me and you with the Great Qur’an and the verses and wise remembrance in it. I say what you have heard, and I ask God’s forgiveness for me and you, so seek His forgiveness. Indeed, He is Forgiving.
The second sermon
Praise be to God for His benevolence, and thanks to Him for His success and gratitude. I bear witness that there is no god but God alone, with no partner, out of respect for Him. I bear witness that our Prophet Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, who calls for His pleasure. May God’s prayers and peace be upon him, his family, companions, and brothers, and whoever follows their path, follows in their footsteps, loves them, and defends them until the day of His satisfaction, and grants them abundant peace.As for the servants of God:
The funeral prayer is for a believer and it is not permissible for it to be prayed except for a Muslim. As for a non-Muslim, it is not permissible to pray for him and it is not permissible to pray for him of any religion he may be. Even if he was of Muslim parents but he joined God or abandoned prayer altogether, then it is not permissible to pray for him for anyone who knows his condition as well.
The funeral prayer, O servants of God, the Sharia has established that it is four takbirs. He pronounces takbirs in the first, then recites the Fatihah of the Book after it. If he recites a surah in its time, especially Al-Ikhlas, then he does it well. He does it sometimes, then he pronounces takbirs on the second and prays upon the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace. The best of these formulas for praying upon him is the Abrahamic prayer that you recite in your last witness, then He says the third takbir and supplicates for the dead. He supplicates for the dead and for the dead in front of him. The best of what was mentioned in this supplication is what was narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih.[4]On the authority of Awf bin Malik Al-Ashja’i, may God be pleased with him, he said: A funeral was brought before the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and one of his supplications for it was: “O God, forgive him and have mercy on him, pardon him, honor his abode, widen his entrance, wash him with water, ice, and cold, and purify him of Sins and transgressions just as a white garment is cleansed of filth, and I will replace it with a home better than its home, and a family better than its family.” Awf, may God be pleased with him, said: “Until I wished I were that dead person from this comprehensive supplication and this beneficial supplication that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, prayed for.”
May God benefit me and you with the Great Qur’an and the verses and wise remembrance in it. I say what you have heard, and I ask God’s forgiveness for me and you, so seek His forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
Then he says the fourth takbir and is silent for a while, then he says one takbir to his right, and know, servants of God, that whoever misses the prayer for the dead, it is sunnah for him to pray over his grave, and the jurists have limited that to a month, and he must pray four takbirs, which he does as he does at the funeral in front of him, even if that is after he has been buried. By this, God willing, he realizes the virtue of praying over the funeral.
Then know, servants of God!The most truthful speech is the word of God, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the worst of matters are newly invented matters, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is a misguidance, and you, servants of God, must adhere to the group, for the hand of God is upon the group, and whoever strays strays into Hell, and the wolf only eats from the stray sheep. O God, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as you prayed for Abraham and the family of Abraham in the worlds. You are Praiseworthy and Glorious, O God, and be pleased with the four caliphs, and with the ten and the Companions of the Tree, and with the Muhajireen and the Ansar, and with those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment, and help us with them with Your grace and mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful.
Oh God, honor with which you honor your friends, and with which you humiliate your enemies, O God, establish for this nation a matter of righteousness by which those who obey you will be honored, and those who disobey you will be guided, and by which good will be enjoined, and evil will be forbidden, O Lord of glory and honor, O God, secure us and the Muslims in our homelands, O God, reform our imams and the rulers of our affairs, O God, make our guardianship and the Muslims among those who fear you. And fear You and follow Your pleasure, O Lord of the worlds. O God, whoever harms us and harms the believers, harm him, and whoever plots against us, plots against him, and whoever plots against us, plots against him. O Best of planners, O Possessor of Majesty and Honour. Behind us, on our right, on our left, and above us, and we seek refuge in Your greatness from being assassinated while You are our guardian. O God, accept our fasting, our zakat, our prayers, our kneeling, and our prostration. O God, accept our fasting, O Lord of the worlds. O God, be for the oppressed among Muslims everywhere. Be for us and for them a guardian, a helper, and a backer, O Possessor of Majesty and Honour. O God, have mercy on the Muslims, male and female, and believers. And the believing women, living and dead, O God, make the best of our deeds the last ones, and the best of our deeds the last ones, and the best of our days the day we meet You, O Possessor of Glory and Honor. O God, we ask You for guidance and piety, chastity and wealth, and we ask You for glory for Islam and its people and humiliation for disbelief and its people, O Possessor of Glory and Honor. Glory be to your Lord, Lord of glory over what they describe, and peace be upon the messengers, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.