For Those Left Behind: Guidance on Death and Grieving - Tapa blanda

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Imam Omar Suleiman is the Founder and President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and an Adjunct Professor of Islamic Studies in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at SMU (Southern Methodist University). He is also the Resident Scholar at Valley Ranch Islamic Center and Co-Chair of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square. He holds a Bachelors in Accounting, a Bachelors in Islamic Law, a Masters in Islamic Finance, a Masters in Political History, and is currently pursuing a Phd. in Islamic Thought and Civilization from the International Islamic University of Malaysia.

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Episode 1 – The Janazah

You entered this world with the call to prayer (adhan) being recited over you, but

without any prayer (?alah). When you depart from this world, there will be a

prayer read over you, but there will be no call to prayer. The contrast between

these two epic events has much significance. It is as if to say that the fleeting life

which you experience in this world is as short as the duration between the call to

prayer and the prayer itself.

While you were still inside the womb of your mother, an angel was appointed to

register the duration of your life and the exact date of your death. This

paradoxically implies that the moment you enter this world, you are actually

already in one sense on your way to exit from it. All of these stark realities

constitute a powerful reminder that we should consistently perform our prayers

before we are prayed upon. This is because this life is far shorter than we may

initially think. Upon their death, every Muslim is entitled to have the funeral prayer

(?alah al-janazah) performed upon them by their fellow believers. Not only is it a

religious act of worship, but it is also a way to bid farewell to our loved ones.

Furthermore, it constitutes a sobering reminder that we too will one day follow

them on the same path. The wise person is the one who always visualises the

fateful day when the funeral prayer is offered over their dead body, and allows that

thought to shape their life trajectory. The Prophet ? taught us how to perform the

funeral prayer in elaborate detail. The prayer is unique in both its form and order,

as it consists of four successive takbirs. After the first takbir we are required to

recite Surah al-Fati?ah. After the second, one should send prayers (?alawat) upon

the Prophet ?, preferably through a full reading of the al-?alah al-Ibrahimiyyah,

which we are already accustomed to reciting during our regular prayers. After

finishing it, one then reads the third takbir, which should be followed with a du?a’

for the deceased. There are a number of confirmed supplications which have all

been transmitted from the Prophet ?. Among them is the following:

????? ???? ????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ??????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ????? ?? ?????? ??? ????? ???

???????? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ?

“O Allah, forgive our living ones, deceased ones, present ones, absent ones, our

little youngsters, elderly folk, our males, and our females. O Allah, whoever You

have decreed to live amongst us, then let them live upon Islam. And whoever You

decree to die, then have them die with full faith.”

We make this du?a’ for the deceased – which was taught to us by the Prophet ? –

in a sincere and heartfelt manner during this short and special prayer.

After the fourth takbir, you should make du?a’ for yourself and all members of the

Ummah. If you wish, you may also further supplicate for the deceased. Some of

the scholars have recommended the following supplication at this point:

????? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ??? ?

“O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward, and do not allow us to go astray after

him.”