Dars e Imam-Funeral Prayer
“Bismillahir Rahmannir Raheem””Al-Hamdu Lillaahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen was Salaatu was- Salaamu ‘Alaa Sayidinaa Muhammadin wa Aalihi wa Asabihi Ajma ‘een (tauheed- risalat- ahkirat and islam-iman-ihsan)
‘Allamah
al-Bayjuri, in his commentary on the Shama’il, notes that it was from divine
wisdom that Abu Bakr was not present at the moment this great calamity struck,
so he was able to think more clearly despite also being drowned in sorrow,
unlike many other great Companions who were in a state of shock.Even before his
nomination to leadership, he was called upon to teach, and instructed the
masses in a way which he could have only known through his deep understanding
of the Prophetic will- not by any guessing or reasoning of his own.
The people were wondering whether the Prophet ﷺ was to be prayed over, since the funeral prayer is normally a prayer of forgiveness and intercession for the deceased, but the Prophet ﷺ was sinless. Would he be bathed, even though he was pure in life and death? Was he to be buried, or would he be raised to the heavens, or kept somewhere since his blessed body would never change states?
Imam
al-Suyuti and al-Bayjuri both mentioned a narration from al-Hakim and
al-Bazaar, and though there is a strong difference as to the degree of its weakness,
it reinforces that this method of prayer, in fact the prayer itself, was not
from independent reasoning, rather amongst final instructions to close family
members when they had gathered in the house of ‘Aisha (Allah be well pleased
with her) and they asked the Prophet ﷺ:“Who will pray over
you?” The Prophet
ﷺ replied, “When you have bathed me and
shrouded me then place me on a bed, then leave me for some time, for the first
one to pray on me shall be Gibril, then Mika`il, then Israfil, then the Angel
of Death with his host; then, admit upon me group after group, then let them
pray over me and send salams upon me with complete submission.” [al-Hakim,
Mustadrak; al-Bazzaar, Musnad]
Following
Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) directions, the people did exactly
as he outlined. Ibn Abbas narrates:“…
and when they were finished with preparing him on Wednesday (Allah bless him
and grant him peace) [for burial], they placed him on his bed, in his house,
and the people entered upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in small groups until they had
finished; then they let in the women until they finished; then they let in the
children, and no one led the people as an imam over the Messenger of Allah ﷺ …” [Ibn Majah, Sunan]
Ibn ‘Abbas also narrates:“When the
Prophet ﷺ passed away, the men
were admitted [into the house of ‘Aisha] and they prayed upon him without
anyone leading the prayer, individually, then they left, then they admitted the
women, and they prayed upon him, then they admitted the children, and they
prayed upon him, then they admitted the slaves, and they prayed upon him,
individually; no one led them in prayers over the Prophet ﷺ.”
[al-Bayhaqi, Dalai’il al-Nubuwwah]
Perhaps the most unique aspect of funeral of the Prophet ﷺ was that although there was a washing, prayer and burial as the sacred law normally instructs, approximately 30,000 people prayed the funeral prayer individually, with no one acting as the Imam
[according to al-Bayjuri’s estimate]
.
One proposed reason is that since there was no imam to lead the Muslim community initially, the Companions decided to start praying individually without an imam. Many scholars discounted and refuted this as the sole reason however, because the pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr was given while the ghusl was taking place, so if a was leader was needed, they had one.
Given that the city of Madinah and its environs was home to thousands of Muslims, it would’ve been nearly impossible to gather them all inside or around the house of the Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), in which at most perhaps 10 people at a time could stand.
Had one large prayer been performed by the Caliph initially, those who missed out would not have a chance to make a second congregation as the group funeral prayer is prayed only once, with the ruler of the Muslims most deserving to lead it.
al-Ramli mentions the speculation that (in the absence of the ruler) if the nearest-of-kin (the wali) to the deceased has the right to lead the funeral prayer in normal circumstances, it would have been the Prophet’s ﷺ paternal uncle, al-`Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) who would have had this right. However, it is possible that al-`Abbas did not claim that right fearing that it would mislead the people into believing that he was the new Caliph, which could potentially cause discord and confusion. [al-Ramli, Nihayah al-Muhtaj ‘ala al-Minhaj]
One of the stronger proposed reasons explaining the funeral prayer method was that it was part of an explicit decree in the Prophet’s ﷺ final instructions to the community.
This reasoning supports the view that the most blessings (barakah)
for the one praying was when it was without any intermediary leading in between
– rather there was an opportunity for each Companion to intimately experience,
and be in control of, their last direct interaction with the Prophet ﷺ – one can only imagine the emotions they must
have felt at the time.
Zikr e elahi gives satisfaction
Zikr e auliya gives inspiration ,sabr and strengthens iman
When I want to talk to allah I say prayers and when I want that he talk to me I recite quran- Hazrath Ali(ra)
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