Death & the Deceased

Innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn.

Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.

Said upon any affliction. Whoever says it and then supplicates, 'O Allah, reward me for my affliction and replace it with something better', Allah replaces it with something better. (Sahih Muslim 918)

[ Surah Al-Baqara 2:156 ]

Rabbanā innanā samiʿnā munādiyan yunādī lil-īmāni an āminū bi-Rabbikum fa-āmannā. Rabbanā faghfir lanā dhunūbanā wa kaffir ʿannā sayyi'ātinā wa tawaffanā maʿal-abrār.

Our Lord, we heard a caller calling to faith: 'Believe in your Lord', and we believed. Our Lord, so forgive us our sins, remove from us our misdeeds, and cause us to die among the righteous.

[ Surah Aal-i-Imraan 3:193 ]

Rabbanā afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabran wa tawaffanā muslimīn.

Our Lord, pour upon us patience and let us die as Muslims.

Said by The magicians of Pharaoh

[ Surah Al-A'raaf 7:126 ]

Rabbi qad ātaytanī minal-mulki wa ʿallamtanī min ta'wīlil-aḥādīth. Fāṭiras-samāwāti wal-arḍ, Anta waliyyī fid-dunyā wal-ākhirah, tawaffanī musliman wa alḥiqnī biṣ-ṣāliḥīn.

My Lord, You have given me sovereignty and taught me the interpretation of dreams. Creator of the heavens and the earth, You are my protector in this world and the Hereafter. Cause me to die a Muslim and join me with the righteous.

Said by Prophet Yusuf ﷺ

[ Surah Yusuf 12:101 ]

Lā ilāha illallāh

Whoever dies with the last words (whose meaning is): "There is none worthy of worship but Allah" will enter Paradise.

[ Abu Dawud 3/190. See also Al-Albani, Sahihul-Jami' As-Saghir 5/432. Hisn al-Muslim 153 ]

Innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rāji`ūn, Allāhumma-jurni fī muṣībatī wa 'khluf lī khayran minhā.

We are from Allah and unto Him we return. O Allah take me out of my plight and bring to me after it something better.

[ Muslim 2/632. Hisn al-Muslim 154 ]

Allāhumma’ghfir li (name of the person) warfa` darajatahu fi ‘l-mahdiyyīn, wakhlufhu fī `aqibihi fi ‘l-ghābirīn, wagh’fir-lanā wa lahu yā Rabba ‘l-`ālamīn, wafsaḥ lahu fī qabrihi wa nawwir lahu fīh.

O Allah, forgive [name of the person] and elevate his station among those who are guided. Send him along the path of those who came before, and forgive us and him, O Lord of the worlds. Enlarge for him his grave, and shed light upon him in it.

[ Muslim 2/634. Hisn al-Muslim 155 ]

Allāhumma’ghfir lahu warḥamh, wa `āfihi, wa`fu `anh, wa akrim nuzulah, wa wassi` mudkhalah, wagh’silhu bi ‘lmā'i wath-thalji walbarad, wa naqqihi mina ‘l-khaṭāyā kamā naqqaytath-thawba ‘l-abyaḍa minad-danas, wa abdilhu dāran khayran min dārih, wa ahlan khayran min ahlih, wa zawjan khayran min zawjih, wa adkhilhu ‘l-jannah, wa a`idhhu min `adhābi ‘l-qabri [wa `adhābin-nār].

O Allah, forgive him and have mercy on him, and give him strength and pardon him. Be generous to him, and cause his entrance to be wide, and wash him with water and snow and hail. Cleanse him of his transgressions as white cloth is cleansed of stains. Give him an abode better than his home, and a family better than his family, and a wife better than his wife. Take him into Paradise, and protect him from the punishment of the grave [and from the punishment of Hell-fire].

[ Muslim 2/663. Hisn al-Muslim 156 ]

Allāhumma’ghfir liḥayyinā, wa mayyitinā, wa shāhidinā, wa ghā'ibinā, wa ṣaghīrinā wa kabīrinā, wa dhakarinā wa unthānā. Allāhumma man aḥyaytahu minnā fa aḥyihi `ala ‘l-Islām, wa man tawaffaytahu minnā fatawaffahu `alal-īmān, Allāhumma lā taḥrimnā ajrah wa lā tuḍillanā ba`dah.

O Allah forgive our living and our dead, those who are with us and those who are absent, our young and our old, our menfolk and our womenfolk. O Allah, whomever you give life from among us give him life in Islam, and whomever you take away from us take him away in Faith. O Allah, do not forbid us their reward and do not send us astray after them.

[ Ibn Majah 1/480, Ahmad 2/368. See also Al-Albani, Sahih Ibn Majah 1/251. Hisn al-Muslim 157 ]

Allāhumma inna [name the person] fī dhimmatik, wa ḥabli jiwārik, faqihi min fitnati ‘l-qabri wa `adhābin-nār, wa anta ahlu ‘l-wafā'i wa ‘l-ḥaqq. Faghfir lahu warḥamh innaka anta ‘l-Ghafūrur-Raḥīm.

O Allah, surely [name the person] is under Your protection, and in the rope of Your security, so save him from the trial of the grave and from the punishment of the Fire. You fulfill promises and grant rights, so forgive him and have mercy on him. Surely You are Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

[ Ibn Majah, Abu Dawud 3/211. See also Al Albani, Sahih Ibn Majah 1/251. Hisn al-Muslim 158 ]

Allāhumma `abduka wabnu 'amatik iḥtāja ilā raḥmatik, wa anta ghaniyyun `an `adhābih, in kāna muḥsinan fazid fī ḥasanātih, wa in kāna musī'an fatajāwaz `anh.

O Allah, Your male slave and the child of Your female slave is in need of Your mercy, and You are not in need of his torment. If he was pious then increase his rewards and if he was a transgressor then pardon him.

[ Al-Hakim 1/359 who graded it authentic and Ath-Thahabi agreed with him. See also Al-Albani, Ahkamul-Jana'iz, p. 125. Hisn al-Muslim 159 ]

Allāhumma a`idh’hu min `adhābi ‘l-qabr [or say:] Allāhumma ‘j`alhu faraṭan wa dhukhran liwālidayh, wa shafī`an mujāban. Allāhumma thaqqil bihi mawāzīnahumā wa a`ẓim bihi ujūrahumā, wa alḥiqhu biṣāliḥi ‘l-mu'minīn, waj`alhu fī kafālati Ibrāhīm, wa qihi biraḥmatika `adhāba ‘l-jaḥīm, wa abdilhu dāran khayran min dārih, wa ahlan khayran min ahlih, Allāhumma’ghfir li aslāfinā wa afrāṭinā wa man sabaqanā bil īmān.

O Allah, protect him from the torment of the grave. [It is also good to say:] O Allah, make him a precursor, a forerunner and a treasure for his parents and an answered intercessor. O Allah, make him weigh heavily in their scales (of good) and magnify their reward. Make him join the righteous of the believers. Place him in the care of Ibrahim. Save him by Your mercy from the torment of Hell. Give him a home better than his home, and a family better than his family. O Allah, forgive those who have gone (i.e. passed away) before us, our children lost (by death), and those who have preceded us in Faith.

[ Ibn Qudamah, Al-Mughni 3/416 and Ad-Duroosul-Muhimmah li-Aammatil-'Ummah, pg. 15, by Shaikh 'Abdul-'Aziz bin Baz. Hisn al-Muslim 160 ]

Allāhumma’j`alhu lanā faraṭan, wa salafan, wa ajra.

O Allah, make him for us a precursor, a forerunner and a cause of reward.

[ Al-Hasan (Al-Basri) used to recite Surat Al-Fatihah for a child's funeral and then say this. Al-Bukhari, Kitabul-Jana'iz, p. 65. Hisn al-Muslim 161 ]

Inna lillāhi mā akhadh, wa lahu mā a`tā, wa kullu shay'in `indahu bi ajalin musammā . . . faltaṣbir wa ‘l-taḥtasib . [Also good to say: ] A`ẓamallāhu ajrak, wa 'aḥsana `azā'ak, wa ghafara limayyitik.

Surely, Allah takes what is His, and what He gives is His, and to all things He has appointed a time... so have patience and be rewarded.1 May Allah magnify your reward, and make perfect your bereavement, and forgive your departed.2

[ 1 Al-Bukhari 2/80, Muslim 2/636. 2An-Nawawi, Kitabul-'Athkar, p. 126. Hisn al-Muslim 162 ]

Bismillāh wa `alā sunnati Rasūlillāh.

With the Name of Allah, and according to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.

[ Abu Dawud 3/314 with an authentic chain. Ahmad also recorded it with the wording: With the Name of Allah, and according to the religion of the Messenger of Allah. Its chain is also authentic. Hisn al-Muslim 163 ]

Allāhumma’ghfir lah Allāhumma thabbit’h.

O Allah, forgive him. O Allah, strengthen him.

[ The Prophet (ﷺ) used to stop after burying the dead and say to the people: "Ask Allah to forgive your brother and pray for him to be strengthened, for indeed he is now being questioned." Abu Dawud 3/315, and Al-Hakim 1/370 who graded it authentic and Ath-Thahabi agreed. Hisn al-Muslim 164 ]

Assalāmu `alaykum ahlad-diyāri minal-mu'minīna wa ‘l-muslimīn, wa innā in shā' Allāhu bikum lāḥiqūn nas'alullāha lanā wa lakumul-`āfiyah.

Peace be upon you, people of this abode, from among the believers and those who are Muslims, and we, by the Will of Allah, shall be joining you. [May Allah have mercy on the first of us and the last of us] I ask Allah to grant us and you well-being.

[ Muslim 2/671, Ibn Majah 1/494, the portion brackets is from Muslim 2/671. Hisn al-Muslim 165 ]