Attending Funerals

Intro | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14

Contents

Mountain’s worth of reward Action plan Coming up

15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26

Amongst the recurring events that provide us with a stark reminder of the reality of this momentary life, is the funeral prayer. If death was to unexpectedly approach one of us, causing us to leave behind those we love, and throw aside our hard-earned possessions, what thoughts would overpoweringly linger in our minds?

Is there anything that would bring us reassurance and peace, whilst laying in our graves, alone and petrified, than the thought of flocks of righteous believers beseeching Allah to ease our accountability (in the grave) and shower His infinite mercy upon us?

The Prophet (ﷺ) regularly directed his companions to fulfil the rights that other believers had upon them; amongst those rights was the attendance of the funeral prayer. He (ﷺ) excitedly informed his companions of the magnificent rewards accompanied with attending this prayer!

Mountain’s worth of reward

The Prophet (ﷺ) said,

مَنْ اتَّبَعَ جَنَازَةَ مُسْلِمٍ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا وَكَانَ مَعَهُ حَتَّى يُصَلَّى عَلَيْهَا وَيَفْرُغَ مِنْ دَفْنِهَا فَإِنَّه يَرْجِعُ مِنْ الْأَجْرِ بِقِيرَاطَيْنِ كُلُّ قِيرَاطٍ مِثْلُ أُحُدٍ وَمَنْ صَلَّى عَلَيْهَا ثُمَّ رَجَعَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُدْفَنَ فَإِنَّهُ يَرْجِعُ بِقِيرَاطٍ

“Whoever follows the funeral of a Muslim, in faith and seeking reward, and he remains with it until the prayer is offered and the burial ceremony is finished, then he will return with two great rewards.

“Each reward is like the size of Mount Uhud. Whoever offers the funeral prayer and returns before the burial, then he will return with one great reward.” [1]

The above report strongly encourages us to attend the funeral prayers of fellow believers, with the aim of alleviating their burdens and worries.

Through engaging in prayer, making heartfelt supplications for the deceased, and witnessing the burial, we can accumulate humongous reward. [2]

Action plan

As we try our hardest to do good actions during Ramadan, if we are presented with an opportunity to attend a funeral prayer – whether it is for somebody we know or not – we should seize it!

Here are a few practical steps we can take in order to make more of an effort to attend funeral prayers:

Make the intention to attend the next funeral you hear about – of a Muslim you don’t know;
Keep up-to-date with local funeral-related announcements to reap the rewards of attending the next one;
Try to witness the burial as well as take part in the funeral prayer, in order to attain the optimal reward.

Coming up

As we take conscious steps towards trying to attend more funeral prayers, let’s also try to make some time to reflect upon the next part of this series.

Part 5 will shed light on the importance of giving in charity. Are you intending on making charitable donations this Ramadan? If so, keep your eyes peeled for the next article!

Intro | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14