Funerals

The chapters of funerals open before death: the encyclopedia describes what those surrounding the dying person do, then the urgency of his debts.

Prompting the word of oneness: the first rite of funerals

Prompt your dying ones to say: none deserves to be worshipped except Allah.Muslim 916

The recommendation gathers the scholars' unanimity (an-Nawawi): the word of oneness is made gently audible to him, without insistence or repetition, for fear of annoying him in his distress; if it leaves his mouth once, it is not repeated to him, unless he speaks of something else afterwards. If words of disbelief escape him in delirium, he is not judged a disbeliever: he is treated as the dead of the Muslims, considering him struck by loss of reason.

Turning the dying person toward the qibla before the funeral

The agreement of the 4 imams is recorded (an-Nawawi, Ibn Hubayra): when his sight begins to fade, he is turned toward the qibla, laid on his right side, in the image of the position in the grave; if the place does not allow it, on the left side, then on his back with his head slightly raised. He is not turned before that moment, so as not to frighten him.

Presence and good speech before the funeral

Those present remember Allah and multiply the invocation for him so that his passage be made easy, and say nothing before him but good: it is a moment of remembrance, not of distraction. The relative's presence aims to comfort him, close his eyes and fulfill his rights.

His debts above all: the urgency before the funeral

The encyclopedia records the recommendation to settle his debts without waiting, based on the Prophet's words: « the believer's soul remains suspended by his debt until it is paid on his behalf » (reported from Abu Hurayra). If payment is impossible at once, the heir or another takes the debt in charge in his place: Abu Qatada said to the Prophet about a deceased man: « pray over him, and his debt is upon me », and he prayed. The validity of such a guarantee gathers most of the imams, Abu Hanifa having restricted it.

Practical note: the first duties of funerals

These simple gestures (gentle prompting, orientation, calm presence, debts settled) form the first duty toward the dying person, before the washing and the prayer.