Burying the Dead - Section 1

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‘Amir b. Sa‘d b. Abu Waqqas told that Sa‘d b. Abu Waqqas said during his illness of which he died, “Make a niche for me in the side of the grave, and set up bricks over me as was done with God’s messenger.” Muslim transmitted it.

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Ibn ‘Abbas said that a piece of red stuff was put in God’s messenger’s grave. Muslim transmitted it.

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Sufyan at-Tammar said he saw the grave of the Prophet (ﷺ) humped. Bukhari transmitted it.

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Abul Hayyaj al-Asadi told that ‘Ali said to him, “I am sending you on the same mission as God’s messenger sent me. Do not leave an image without obliterating it, or a high grave without levelling it.” Muslim transmitted it.

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Jabir said God’s messenger forbade that graves should be plastered with gypsum, that any erection should be built over them, and that people should sit on them. Muslim transmitted it.

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Abu Marthad al-Ghanawi reported God’s messenger as saying, “Do not sit on graves, and do not pray facing them.” Muslim transmitted it.

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Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “It is better that one of you should sit on live coals which burn his clothing and come in contact with his skin than that he should sit on a grave.” Muslim transmitted it.

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‘Urwa b. az-Zubair said there were two men in Medina, one of whom made a niche when digging a grave, the other of whom did not. The people said that the one who came first should do as he was accustomed to do, and the one who made a niche came and made one for God’s messenger. [Baghawi] transmitted it in <i>Sharh as-sunna</i>.

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Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying, “The niche in the side of the grave is for us and the excavation in the middle is for others.” Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i and Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Ahmad transmitted it from Jarir b. ‘Abdallah.

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Hisham b. ‘Amir told that the Prophet (ﷺ) said on the day of Uhud, “Dig graves, make them wide, deep and beautiful, bury two or three together in a single grave, and put first the one who knew most of the Qur’an.” Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud and Nasa'i transmitted it, and Ibn Majah transmitted up to “beautiful”.

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Jabir said:

On the day of Uhud my paternal aunt brought my father to bury him in our cemetery, but God’s messenger’s crier called out, “Take back the dead to the place where they fell.” Ahmad, Tirmidhi Abu Dawud, Nasa'i and Darimi transmitted it, the wording being Tirmidhi’s.

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Ibn 'Abbas said God’s messenger was lowered gently into the grave head first. Shafi'i transmitted it.

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He told that the Prophet (ﷺ) entered a grave during the night, and when a lamp was lit for him he faced the <i>qibla</i> and said, “God have mercy on you if you were devoted to supplication with tears (The Arabic is awwah which cannot easily be translated by one word. It is variously explained as meaning one much given to sighing through fear of God, one much given to supplication from love of God, one much given to weeping from fefir, or one much given to prayer asking for God’s mercy. <i>Cf. Mirqat</i>, ii, 376) and to the recitation of the Qur’an.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, but in <i>Sharh as- sunna</i> its <i>isnad</i> is said to be weak.

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Ibn ‘Umar told that when the dead was placed in the grave the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “In the name of God, by God’s grace, and following the religion of God’s messenger.” A version has “And following the <i>sunna</i> of God’s messenger.” Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Abu Dawud transmitted the second version.

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Ja'far b. Muhammad told in <i>mursal</i> form on his father’s authority that the Prophet (ﷺ) cast three handfuls of earth on the dead with both hands, that he sprinkled water on his son Ibrahim’s grave, and that he put small pebbles on it. It is transmitted in <i>Sharh as-sunna</i>, and Shafi’i transmitted from “he sprinkled".

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Jabir said God’s messenger forbade that graves should be plastered with gypsum, have any writing on them, or be trodden on. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

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He said that the Prophet’s grave was sprinkled and that the one who sprinkled the water over his grave from a water-skin was Bilal b. Rabah. He began where the head was and sprinkled it to his feet. Baihaqi transmitted it in <i>Dalail an-nubuwa</i>.

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Al-Muttalib b. Abu Wada'a said that when ‘Uthman b. Maz'un died, 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; so God’s messenger got up and, going over to it, rolled up his sleeves. Al-Muttalib remarked that the one who told him about God’s messenger said, “I still seem to see the whiteness of the forearms of God’s messenger 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.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

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Al-Qasim b. Muhammad told of his going to visit ‘A’isha and saying, “Mother, show me the grave of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his two companions.” She showed him three graves which were neither high nor low, but were spread over with soft red pebbles in an open space. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

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Al-Bara’ b. ‘Azib said, “We went out with God’s messenger 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 qibla and we sat down along with him.” Abu Dawud, Nasa’i and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Ibn Majah adding “quietly”. (Literally, as though the birds were over our heads. An explanation of the phrase is that when a bird alights on a camel’s head and begins to pick the ticks off it, the camel stands perfectly still so as not to frighten it away.)

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‘A’isha reported God’s messenger as saying, “Breaking a dead man’s bone is like breaking it when he is alive.” Malik, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

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Anas said:

I was present when the daughter of God’s messenger was being buried. He was sitting beside the grave and I saw his eyes shedding tears. He then asked, “Is there any of you who did not have sexual intercourse last night?” Abu Talha replied that he had not, so he told him to go down into her grave, and he did so. Bukhari transmitted it.

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‘Amr b. al-‘As said to his son when he was in the throes of death, “When I die let no wailing woman or fire accompany me, and when you bury me scatter earth lightly over me, then stand round my grave as long as it takes to sacrifice an animal and have its flesh distributed, so that I may feel you near and know what to answer my Lord’s messengers.”( i.e. Munkar and Naklr who examine the dead in the grave) Muslim transmitted it.

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‘Abdallah b. ‘Umar said he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say, “When one of you dies do not keep him long, but take him quickly to his grave, and have the opening verses of <i>sura al-Baqara</i> recited at his head and the concluding verses of the same <i>sura</i> at his feet.” Baihaqi transmitted it in <i>Shu'ab al-iman</i>, saying the correct view is that it does not go farther back than him.

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Ibn Abu Mulaika said that when ‘Abd ar-Rahman b. Abu Bakr died in al-Hubshi, the name of a palce, he was conveyed to Mecca and buried there. When ‘A’isha arrived she went to the grave of ‘Abd ar. Rahman b. Abu Bakr and said:

We were like the companions of Jadhima (Jadhima was a legendary pre-Islamic king with his centre in al-Anbar. He had two boon- companions, 'Aqil and Malik, who are said to have been together for forty years. The verses are from a lament by Mutammim b. Nuwaira al-Yarbu'i over his brother Malik) for a long time, so that people said the two will never be separated. But when we separated it seemed, in spite of long association, as if Malik and I had not spent a single night together. She then said, “I swear by God that if I had been present with you, you would have been buried nowhere but where you died, and if I had been with you I would not have visited you.” Tirmidhi transmitted it.