Mustahab Acts Of Salat Al-Mayyit
Rule 127
The following acts are Mustahab in the Salat for the dead body:
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The people who offer the Salat for the dead body should have had performed Ghusl, Wudhu or Tayammum. According to Ihtiyat, he should perform Tayammum only when it is not possible to perform Ghusl or Wudhu, or if he fears that if he leaves to perform Ghusl or Wudhu it will not be possible for him to participate in the prayers.
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If the dead body is that of a male, then the Imam or the person who is offering the prayers alone should stand at the middle part of the dead body. However, if the dead body is that of a female then he should stand at the chest of the dead body.
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To pray bare-footed.
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To raise one’s hands (up to the ears) while reciting every takbir.
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The distance between the person offering prayers and the dead body should be so short that, when if the wind blows, then the dress of the person offering the prayers would touch the coffin (or dead body).
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To pray in congregation.
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For the Imam to recite the takbir and supplications loudly and those offering the prayers with him to recite them in a low voice.
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If there is only one person joining the Salat al-Mayyit being offered in Jama’at, then he would stand behind the Imam.
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One who offers the prayers should sincerely and persistently pray for the deceased as well as for all the believers.
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Before the commencement of the congregational prayers for the dead body, one should say (الصلاة) three times.
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The prayers should be offered at a place where people often go for Salat al-Mayyit.
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If a Haidhh (woman who is menstruating) participates in the congregational prayers for the deceased, then she should stand alone and not join the lines.
Rule 128
It is Makruh to perform prayers for the deceased in Masjids, except in Masjidul Haram.
The Reward For Taking Part In The Burial Ceremony
One of the rules pertaining to the deceased, which it has been recommended to perform, is taking part in the burial ceremony. There is so much emphasis in Islam concerning this that the Angel Jibra’il once said to the Prophet of Islam (S) that he wished that he was a human for seven reasons, and one of them was so that he would be able to take part in the burial ceremony.
It would not be out of place for us to mention a few hadith related to the importance of attending and taking part in the funeral ceremony.
Imam al-Baqir (‘a) said, “Prophet Musa (‘a) once prayed to Allah and asked him what the reward and recompense was for a person who took part in a funeral ceremony?” Allah replied, “I will appoint for him Angels, so that when he is raised from the grave, they will accompany him with raised flags to the Plain of Resurrection”1.
عن رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) قال: من شيع جنازة فله بكل خطوة حتى يرجع مائة ألف ألف حسنة ، ويمحا عنه مائة ألف ألف سيئة ، ويرفع له مائة ألف ألف درجة ، فإن صلى عليها شيَّعه في جنازته مائة ألف ألف ملك ، كلهم يستغفرون له حتى يرجع ، فإن شهد دفنها وكَّل الله به ألف ملك كلهم يستغفرون له حتى يبعث من قبره ، ومن صلى على ميِّت صلى عليه جبرئيل وسبعوة ألف ملك وغفر له ما تقدم من ذنبه ، وإن أقام عليه حتى يدفنه وحثا عليه من التراب انقلب من الجنازة وله بكل قدم من حيث شيَّعها حتى يرجع إلى منزله قيراط من الأجر ، والقيراط مثل جبل أحد يكون في ميزانت من الأجر.
The Messenger of Islam (S) said, “Anytime a person takes part in the funeral ceremony, for each step that he takes, 100,000,000 good deeds will be written in his record, and 100,000,000 sins will be erased, and his rank will be increased by 100,000,000 levels. If he takes part in the Salat, 100,000,000 angels will take part in his funeral and will pray for his forgiveness until he returns. And if he stays until the body has been buried, Allah will appoint 1,000 angels, all of whom will ask for his forgiveness until he is resurrected from his grave. Jibra’il, along with 70,000 angels will ask for the forgiveness of the past sins for the one who prays over the dead body. If the person stays with the deceased until he is buried and covered over with the dirt and then leaves the body, then for every step he takes from the funeral ceremony until he returns to his house, he will receive the reward of one Qirat in his scale of rewards - and one Qirat is similar (in size) to the Mountain of Uhud”2.
The Participation In A Funeral By Imam Al-Baqir (‘A)
Muhaddith Qummi, in his book Muntaha al-’Amal, relates a hadith from Zurara that, “One day, Imam al-Baqir (‘a) attended a funeral of a deceased from the Tribe of Quraish. I too was present along with a man named ‘Ata’, who was one of the scholars to whom people referred to in times of difficulty and confusion in Makkah. In the crowd of people, screams and shouts from a woman were heard. ‘Ata’ told that woman, ‘Be quiet! Or else I will leave,’ but the woman did not keep quiet and so ‘Ata’ left.
I told Imam al-Baqir (‘a) that ‘Ata’ has left, and he asked me, ‘Why did he leave?’ I replied that a woman was screaming and crying and ‘Ata’ told her to be quiet, and that if she did not then he would leave. The woman did not stop her screaming and crying and therefore ‘Ata’ left. The Imam (‘a) said, ‘Let’s go and complete the funeral ceremony. If I leave because of this one trivial act (the woman screaming and crying), then I will have not fulfilled the duties and the responsibilities (of attending to the funeral ceremony of that Muslim who has passed away).’”
Zurara said, “Once we completed the Salat al-Mayyit, one of the inheritors of the deceased Muslim told the Imam, ‘May Allah have mercy on you; you may go back home since you have earned a great reward’. Imam al-Baqir (‘a) did not accept this man’s advice (to go home). Zurara said to the Imam, ‘This man has allowed you to go back home, and I also was thinking of asking you to go back.’ The Imam replied, ‘Do as you intend to do since we did have not come with this man’s permission so that we should return with his permission; rather, we performed this action for that reward we anticipate since a person is rewarded proportionately to the extent that he accompanies the corpse’”.
Conduct Of Imam Al-Ridha (‘A)
Ibn Shahr Ashib relates from Musa Ibn Sayar that, “As Imam ‘Ali Ibn Musa al-Ridha (‘a) and I were approaching the walls of the city of Tus, I heard the sound of mourning and lamenting. I was trying to find out where the sound was coming from when I saw a deceased person. At this time, I saw my Master, Imam ‘Ali Ibn Musa al-Ridha (‘a) dismounting his horse. He proceeded towards the body, lifted it, and held it close to his body in the same way that a mother would hold her newborn baby. After this, the Imam realized that I was there and said, ‘O’ Musa, a person who takes part in the funeral of one of our friends will have the sins removed from one’s record, just as the one who has just been born.’”
As the body was being brought near the grave, I saw Imam ‘Ali Ibn Musa al-Ridha (‘a) focus his attention on the body, and he moved the other people aside until he was able to reach the body. He placed his blessed hand on the chest of the deceased man and said, ‘O’ So and so! You have been granted paradise and after this hour, you will feel neither fear, nor grief.’
I said to the Imam (‘a), ‘How is it that you know this person seeing as how you have never been to this city before?’ The Imam (‘a) replied, ‘O’ Musa! Don’t you know that the actions of our Shi’a are presented to us every morning and evening!? In the event that there are shortcomings and sins in their record, we ask Allah for His Mercy and Forgiveness for that person, and if there are good actions on their record, then we ask Allah to grant them a great reward and recompense!’”3.
