Janazah — the Funeral in the Sunnah

The body is washed an odd number of times — three, five, or more if needed — with water and lote-leaves (sidr, a cleansing agent), the final wash scented with camphor. Washing begins with the right side and the places of wudu. Umm ʿAṭiyyah reported the Prophet's ﷺ own instructions when his daughter passed away:

Men wash men and women wash women; a spouse may wash their spouse. The washer covers the deceased's ʿawrah, handles the body gently, and keeps private whatever they may see — it is an act of trust and mercy, not display. A martyr killed in battle is the exception: he is buried in his clothes, unwashed and unprayed over, as the Prophet ﷺ did with the martyrs of Uhud (Sahih al-Bukhari 1346).

The Sunnah shroud is simple white cloth — for a man, three plain white sheets, with no shirt or turban, following how the Prophet ﷺ himself was shrouded:

White is preferred for the shroud as it is for the living: "Wear white clothes, for they are among your best garments, and shroud your dead in them" (reported by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi, who graded it ṣaḥīḥ). The shroud should be good and clean but not extravagant — the Prophet ﷺ said a person should "When any one of you shrouds his brother, he should shroud him well" (Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 2072, Kitab al-Jana'iz), which the scholars explain as cleanliness and sufficiency, not costliness.

The funeral prayer is a standing prayer with no rukūʿ, no sujūd, and no sitting — only four takbīrāt, each marked by raising the hands and saying Allāhu akbar, with quiet supplication in between, ended by the salām. The imam stands facing the qiblah with the deceased before him (at the head of a man, level with the middle of a woman, as reported); the rows of worshippers stand behind. Its reward is immense:

How it is prayed, takbīr by takbīr

1. First takbīr — raise the hands, say Allāhu akbar, seek refuge, then recite Sūrah al-Fātiḥah.
2. Second takbīr — send ṣalāh upon the Prophet ﷺ as in the tashahhud (Allāhumma ṣalli ʿalā Muḥammad…).
3. Third takbīr — make duʿāʾ for the deceased. The Prophet ﷺ taught: "O Allah! forgive him, have mercy upon him, give him peace and absolve him. Receive him with honour and make his grave spacious; wash him with water, snow and hail. Cleanse him from faults as Thou wouldst cleanse a white garment from impurity…" (Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 2118, Kitab al-Jana'iz). For a child, one asks Allah to make it a source of reward and a forerunner for the parents.
4. Fourth takbīr — a brief pause or a short duʿāʾ (e.g. "O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward and do not put us to trial after him"), then the salām.

❓ One taslīm or two?

A common question — because the daily prayers end with two salāms, left and right. For the funeral prayer, the stronger and more widespread practice is a single taslīm to the right. This is reported from the Prophet ﷺ and was the practice of a number of the Companions, and it is the position of the majority of scholars for the janāzah. That said, a second taslīm to the left is also reported and is permissible: the one who says two has not erred. So: one salām to the right is the sunnah most reports support; two is valid and no one should be rebuked for either. The prayer is light and brief by design — the aim is to supplicate sincerely for the deceased, not to lengthen the standing.

On raising the hands: it is authentically reported that Ibn ʿUmar raised his hands at every takbīr of the janāzah; some scholars confine the raising to the first takbīr. Both are within the Sunnah.

The Sunnah is to hasten with the funeral, not to delay it:

The body is carried to the grave and lowered gently, laid on its right side facing the qiblah. As it is placed in the grave, the Sunnah words are said: "Bismillāh wa ʿalā millati Rasūlillāh" — "In the name of Allah and upon the way of the Messenger of Allah" (reported by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi, graded ṣaḥīḥ/ḥasan). The grave is filled in, and it is recommended to raise it a hand-span above the ground and mark it modestly so it is known and not walked over. After burial, the Prophet ﷺ would stand a while and say: "Ask forgiveness for your brother and beg for him to be made firm, for he is now being questioned" (reported by Abu Dawud). There is no congregational recitation at the graveside in the authentic Sunnah — the help offered to the deceased is duʿāʾ and istighfār.

Two moments bracket a Muslim's passing and both are served by talqīn — gentle prompting. Before the soul leaves, the dying person is prompted to say the shahādah; after the body is buried, those present are told to beg Allah to keep them firm. It is worth being precise about who is being addressed at each point, because a later custom blurred the two.

Prompting the one who is dying (talqīn al-muḥtaḍar)

When a Muslim is in the throes of death, those present remind them — gently — to say Lā ilāha illā Allāh, so that it may be the last thing on their tongue:

Its reason is a second, well-known report: the Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever's last words are Lā ilāha illā Allāh will enter Paradise" (Sunan Abu Dawud 3116, graded ṣaḥīḥ). So the prompting is done gently and without pressure — the scholars note that one reminds softly, does not command or badger the dying, and once they have said it there is no need to keep repeating it unless they afterward speak of some worldly matter. It is a mercy offered to a person at their weakest, not a test set before them.

After the burial: asking that the dead be made firm

Once the grave has been filled, the Prophet ﷺ would stand over it a while and turn to those present with an instruction — the questioning of the grave has now begun, and the deceased needs duʿāʾ:

"Ask forgiveness for your brother, and beg that he be made firm (al-tathbīt), for he is now being questioned" (Sunan Abu Dawud 3221, graded ḥasan). Notice the direction carefully: the reminder is to the living, and the duʿāʾ is to Allah, for the dead — asking His forgiveness for them and His firming of them under the questioning of the two angels. This is the confirmed help the buried receive from those who stay behind: istighfār and duʿāʾ, raised to Allah on their behalf.

The prompting of the dying (Muslim, Kitab al-Jana'iz) and the standing duʿāʾ after burial (Abu Dawud 3221) are the two soundly-transmitted acts; the "talqīn of the buried" by name is the disputed one, weak in its report.

Islam does not forbid grief — the Prophet ﷺ himself wept at the death of his son Ibrāhīm and said: "The eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved, and we will not say except what pleases our Lord" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1303). What is forbidden is despair and protest against the decree. Offering condolence (taʿziyah) — comforting the bereaved and reminding them of Allah's reward for patience — is a Sunnah, and there is no fixed formula required; a sincere word and a reminder of Ṣabr suffice.

The recognised period of mourning is three days for anyone, and the Prophet ﷺ forbade mourning beyond it — except a widow, who mourns her husband for four months and ten days, the ʿiddah set by Allah in the Quran (2:234; and Sahih al-Bukhari 1280 on the three-day limit for others).