Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)
When the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam passed away,
and Aisha, radia Allahu taala anha, she screamed.
Fatima radia Allahu anha heard the sound of Aisha,
and she knew that the Prophet,
alaihi wa sallam passed away.
And she said these beautiful words,
"Ya Abata rabbi he ma adna"
"Oh my dear father, how close he is now to his Lord."
"Ya abata elaa Jibreel-an a'a
Oh my dear father to Jibreel,
we announce your passing."
"Ya abata jannatul firdousi m'a wa
Oh my dear father, Jannat Al Firdous is now your abode."
It is one thing to know that a person's about to die,
and then to actually see their soul escape their body.
It's another thing to wash them,
and SubhanAllah for anyone that's ever washed the body,
washing someone that you knew is so much different
than washing someone that you didn't.
When you wash someone that you knew,
you can see the deception of this life
because you have in front of you, a lifeless body.
And you used to see that person walking around,
you might've been close to that person, a family member,
someone that you loved
and now you're seeing them lay lifeless.
And you really come to cherish those last moments
where you're looking at that person,
and you know you might kiss them on the forehead.
Abu Bakr, radia Allahu taala anhu,
he kissed the Prophet, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
one last time, after he passed away.
And the Prophet, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
did the same with Uthman ibn Madun, radia Allahu taala anhu,
that he kissed his forehead one more time,
looking at him, radia Allahu taala anhu.
And then one of the hardest things in the world
is to then put dirt on the face of that person.
SubhanAllah, the way that this all unfolds.
First, you see the life escape the body,
then you wash the body, you comb the hair, you perfume it,
you kiss the head one more time.
You enjoy those last moments.
And then you put dirt on their face
as a means of honoring them.
And this is not an easy thing to do.
And in fact, Fatima, radia Allahu taala anha,
she asked Anas ibn Malik, radia Allahu anhu,
after the burial of the Prophet,
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
about how it was, because imagine putting dirt on the face
of the Prophet, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
imagine burying the Prophet, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
and imagine doing it as Anas, radia Allahu taala anhu,
when you have enjoyed the Prophet,
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam's company so intimately
for so long.
So she asked Anas, radia Allahu taala anhu,
she goes to him and she says,
A'Taaubat anfusukum, antahthu a'la Rasoolilahi
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam anthuraab?
How were you able to bring yourselves?
Did your hearts allow you?
Did yourselves allow you
to put dirt on the face of the Prophet,
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
and Anas, radia Allahu anhu, was speechless.
He said, we had to completely ignore our hearts.
It felt horrible.
It's not an easy thing to do.
And that is the case, not just with the messenger of Allah,
salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam,
but that's the case with anyone that is beloved to us.
And certainly, the way the companions loved the Prophet,
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
is greater than the way that any of us
love any of our beloved ones.
Now, the Sunnah is to take the body after the Janazah
and to rush it to the cemetery.
And it's a very rapid process,
or at least it's supposed to be a rapid process.
There isn't leaving the body out for days.
There isn't a bunch of different ceremonies.
It is to go to the Janazah,
to go to the burial as quickly as possible.
In fact, some of the Sahaba, they mentioned,
that when Saad ibn Muadh, radia Allahu taala anhu,
who passed away,
that when we follow the Janazah of Saad ibn Muadh,
the Prophet, alaihi wa sallam,
walked so fast, that they were walking so fast,
that their shoes were coming off, right?
Because of how quickly they were following the Janazah.
And that is the Sunnah of the Prophet,
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
The righteous soul awaits the grave,
says, "Qaddi mooni, Qaddi mooni
hurry up and take me, hurry up and take me.
And the wicked soul says,
"Ya waaylaha, ya waaylaha, aina tazhaboona bi ha"
the wicked soul says the opposite.
Where are you taking it to?
So in the assumption that, bi-idhnillah Ta'ala
we're taking a believing righteous soul to the grave,
as you are carrying that body,
as you are taking it to the grave,
rush it, do not take long, do it as quickly as possible.
The Sunnah is then to start to bury that person.
And you say, Bismillah wa a'ala sunnati rasool'ilah
and upon the way of the messenger of Allah,
salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam.
You can also say, Allah hummaghfir la hu,
Allah humma thabbat hu
Oh Allah, forgive him or her, and oh Allah,
keep him or her firm.
So these are the duas that you are making
as you are putting the body into the grave.
The Sunnah of the Prophet, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
is to start with the feet first,
to face the right side towards the Qibla.
And so sometimes this would require taking some dirt,
and even if you're burying in a casket, to put it in a way
that you can face the body on the right side
towards the Qibla.
And then the Prophet, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
he said, istaghfiru lee akhi kum
At that moment, seek forgiveness for your brother,
thumma salulahu bit-tathbeeth
and then ask for that person to have firmness.
fa innahul aana yus-al
Because that person is now to be asked.
They're going to face the three most important questions
of their lives.
And so that time, when you first put a person into the grave
and they feel the squeeze of the grave is really the time
that you're asking Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la,
to forgive them,
that you're asking Allah, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la,
to grant them steadfastness.
They need that more than anything else.
They need that more than you talking
about how great of a person they were.
They need that more than you
talking about everything is gonna be okay.
They need you to make dua for them,
to seek forgiveness for them.
And to ask Allah to grant them steadfastness and firmness
for the questions that they are about to be asked.
And this is where you see that group duas, for example,
and it is permissible for people to make group duas,
even though the Sunnah of the Prophet,
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
was that people make dua individually, but it's okay
for people to make a group dua as well.
But certainly, not in place of the individual dua.
So that the people really ask Allah sincerely, especially
the loved ones, that Allah, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la,
grant that person forgiveness,
and that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la,
grant that person firmness.
That's not a time to eulogize.
We don't have long eulogies at the grave.
We don't exaggerate in our praise of the person
because that could actually be
to the opposite intended effect for that person.
The Prophet, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
mentioned that when people exaggerate in their praise,
that the angels would poke the person, they'll say,
Ahaaka zaa kunt
Were you what they say that you are?
So a person should not exaggerate in praise.
However, a person should mention the good things
without exaggeration, why?
Because, Antum shuhadaa Allahi fill aard
You are the witnesses of Allah, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la,
on this earth.
So to mention some of the good qualities
and good characteristics as a lesson
for those that are present
and as a witness for the person without exaggerating,
without eulogizing, without formalizing, it is fine.
It's also not a time to wail and to scream.
Crying is Sunnah.
It's not just okay, crying is Sunnah.
It is natural and it is Sunnah for us to cry.
But to wail and to scream and to shout out,
terms of destruction for ourselves,
that also hurts the dead, okay?
So not to eulogize, not to exaggerate and praise,
not to exaggerate in our crying
to a point that it becomes wailing or mourning.
And then you see the beautiful Sunnah of the Prophet,
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam,
to take three handfuls of dirt
and to scatter those three handfuls on the person.
And so that's something
where every person really gets a chance
to do what will one day be done to them.
You prayed on that person with four Takbirs.
You now go and you grab the dirt,
and you scatter with three handfuls on the person
the way that you will one day have the earth upon you.
At that point, there's a question that's often asked,
how long do we stay?
And subhanAllah,
I was talking about the discrepancy
where some people, when they pass away,
if they're well-known or if they have large families,
then a lot of people come to the Janazah.
You also see that sometimes the Janazahs are quick,
for someone that was unknown
versus someone that was well known.
How long are we actually supposed to stay at the grave site?
There's a beautiful narration
from Amr ibn al-As, radia Allahu taala anhu,
that he told his family that when you bury me,
stay next to my grave for the time that it would take
to sacrifice an animal and then distribute its flesh.
Which is a moderate amount of time, right?
It's not like you could say that takes 20 minutes
or 45 minutes or 30 minutes,
it's just a moderate amount of time.
Take some time to stay next to me
so that I can feel your presence.
Hatta asta'ana sabikum.
I can feel your presence.
Wa A'alama maaza ooraaji'u rusoola rabbi
And I can know what to respond to my Lord's messengers.
So he's saying, take some time,
don't leave me too quickly when you bury me.
Stay there, continue to seek forgiveness for me.
Continue to ask Allah to grant me steadfastness
so that I am ready
when the messengers of my Lord come to me
to ask me those three questions.