Description of The Funeral Prayer

Kitaab Majmoo’ Fataawa wa Maqaalaat Mutanawwi’ah li Samaahat al-Shaykh
‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him),
vol 13, p. 141
Please explain to us how the funeral prayer is to be offered, as
reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
because many people do not know about it.



Praise be to Allaah.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his
companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) explained how the funeral
prayer is to be done. It is done as follows:

You say the first Takbeer (“Allaahu akbar”), then you seek refuge with
Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan, then you say Bismillah ir-Rahmaan
ir-Raheem and recite al-Faatihah followed by a short soorah or some
aayahs.

Then you say second Takbeer and send blessings upon the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) as one does at the end of the
prayer.

Then you say a third Takbeer and make du’aa’ for the deceased. The best
is to say: “Allaahumma ighfir lihaayina wa mayitina wa shaahidina wa
ghaa’ibina wa sagheerina wa kabeerina wa dhakarina wa unthaana.
Allaahumma man ahyaytahu minna fa ahyihi ‘ala’l-Islam wa man
tawaffaytahu minna fa tawiffahu ‘ala’l-eemaan. Allaahumma ighfir lahu
warhamhu wa ‘aafihi wa a’fu ‘anhu, wa akrim nuzulahu wa wassi’
madkhalahu waghsilhu bi’l-maa’ wa’l-thalj wa’l-barad, wa naqqihi min
al-khataaya kama yunaqqa’ al-thawb al-abyad min al-danas. Allaahumma
abdilhu daaran khayra min daarihi wa ahlan khayra min ahlihi. Allaahumma
adkhilhu al-jannah wa a’idhhu min ‘adhaab il-qabri wa min ‘adhaab
il-naar wa afsah lahu fi qabrihi wa nawwir lahu fihi. Allaahumma laa
tahrimna ajrahu wa la tadillanaa ba’dahu (O Allaah, forgive our living
and our dead, those who are present among us and those who are absent,
our young and our old, our males and our females. O Allaah, whoever You
keep alive, keep him alive in Islam, and whoever You cause to die, cause
him to die with faith. O Allaah, forgive him and have mercy on him,
keep him safe and sound and forgive him, honour the place where he
settles and make his entrance wide; wash him with water and snow and
hail, and cleanse him of sin as a white garment is cleansed of dirt. O
Allaah, give him a house better than his house and a family better than
his family. O Allaah, admit him to Paradise and protect him from the
torment of the grave and the torment of Hell-fire; make his grave
spacious and fill it with light. O Allaah, do not deprive us of the
reward and do not cause us to go astray after this).”

All of this was narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him). If you make du’aa’ with other words, this is OK, for
example, you could say, “Allaahumma in kaana muhsinan fa zid fi
ihsaanihi wa in kaana musee’an fa tajaawaz ‘an sayi’aatihi. Allaahumma
ighfir lahu wa thabbit-hu bi’l-qawl il-thaabit (O Allaah, if he was a
doer of good, then increase his good deeds, and if he was a wrongdoer,
then overlook his bad deeds. O Allaah, forgive him and give him the
strength to say the right thing).”

Then you say a fourth Takbeer and pause for a little while, then you say
one Tasleem to the right, saying “Assalaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmat-Allaah.”


Kitaab Majmoo’ Fataawa wa Maqaalaat Mutanawwi’ah li Samaahat al-Shaykh
‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him),
vol 13, p. 141

Check the various duas for the dead in funeral prayer:

Click HERE
to listen and learn the Dua of the Death Funerals