Invocations for the deceased

The funeral prayer's invocations are distributed between the takbirs; the encyclopedia records what is said after each, with the texts.

After the first takbira: the Fatiha

The majority recites the Opening, based on Abu Hurayra: « the sunna in the prayer over the dead is to recite the Opening after the first takbira » (an-Nasa'i 1989). Shafi'is and Hanbalis join the refuge invocation to it; Hanafis dispense with it.

After the second: the prayer upon the Prophet

Abu Umama's hadith describes the sequence: the Opening after the first takbira, then the prayer upon the Prophet. The Shafi'is make it obligatory, the minimum being: « O Allah, pray upon Muhammad »; its form is one of the established formulas of the tashahhud.

After the third: the invocation for the deceased

When you pray over the dead, make your invocation for him sincere.Abu Dawud 3199 ; Ibn Majah 1497

No formula is imposed: Ahmad teaches that no fixed invocation exists, and the Prophet and his Companions each invoked with what came to them. Ibn Abd al-Barr reports the command « strive in supplication for your brother », specifying that the striving is the heart's sincerity, not idle multiplication. The most widespread formula comes from Awf ibn Malik: « O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, grant him well-being and pardon him, honor his arrival, make his abode spacious, wash him with water, snow and hail, purify him from faults as a white garment is purified of dirt, give him in exchange a better home, a better family and a better spouse, admit him to Paradise and protect him from the torment of the grave and the Fire » (Abu Dawud 3199 ; Ibn Majah 1497).

After the fourth takbira

Hanafis (in the apparent view) and most Malikis place only the salutation there; some Malikis make invocation there obligatory. The Shafi'is recommend: « O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward and do not test us after him »; some early Muslims concluded with: « Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the hereafter and shield us from the Fire's punishment » (as-Sarakhsi's choice). Ibn Abi Awfa paused a while after the fourth to invoke and seek forgiveness, saying the Prophet did so (reported by al-Bayhaqi).

Practical note

Content matters more than length: a sincere, chosen invocation is worth more than a formula recited distractedly.