The Janaazah Salaat

The janaazah salaat is in reality a dua unto Allah Ta'ala for the deceased person.

1. All the conditions and prerequisites that have been mentioned for salaat will also apply for the janaazah salaat. However, there is one additional condition for the janaazah salaat. That is, one must have knowledge of the person's death. The person who is not informed of this will be excused and janaazah salaat will not be necessary on him.

2. There are two types of conditions for the validity of janaazah salaat: the first type is that which is connected to those offering the janaazah salaat. These conditions have been mentioned in the chapters dealing with all the other types of salaat. That is: purity, concealing one's private area, facing the qiblah , intention. However, "time" is not a pre-requisite for this salaat. Furthermore, if one feels that one will miss it, one can make tayammum, e.g. the janaazah has commenced and the person feels that if he makes wudu he will miss the salaat. In such a case he can make tayammum , as opposed to other salaats, because if one fears that the time is about to expire, it is not permissible for him to make tayammum .

3. These days, some people offer the janaazah salaat with their shoes on. For them it is necessary that the spot on which they are standing is pure, and that their shoes are also pure. If they remove their shoes and stand on them, then it is necessary that only the shoes be pure. If people are not mindful of this, their salaat will not be valid.

The second type of conditions are those that are connected to the deceased. There are six such conditions:

The First Condition : The deceased has to be a Muslim. Salaat over a kaafir or murtad is not valid. Even if a Muslim is an open sinner or a bid'ati , salaat over him will be valid. However, there is an exception for those who rebel against the ruler who is on truth or those who are highway robbers. This is on the condition that they are killed while fighting against the ruler. If they die after the fight or die a natural death, janaazah salaat will be offered over them.

Similarly, the person who kills his father or mother and he himself dies while being punished for this, salaat will not be offered over him. Salaat is not offered over these people as a way of punishment. Salaat over a person who commits suicide is valid.

4. If the father or mother of an immature child is a Muslim, this child will also be regarded as a Muslim. Salaat will be offered over him.

5. A mayyit or deceased person is he who is born alive and then dies. If a child is born dead, salaat over him is not valid.

The Second Condition : The body and kafan of the deceased must be pure from najaasat-e-haqiqi and najaasat-e-hukmi . However, if najaasat-e-haqiqi comes out from his body after giving him the ghusl , and his entire body becomes impure, there is no harm in this. The salaat will be valid.

6. Salaat is not valid over a deceased person if he is not pure from najaasat-e-hukmi , i.e. ghusl was not given to him, or in the case where ghusl was not possible he was not given tayammum. However, if it is not possible to purify him, e.g. he was buried without being given ghusl or tayammum and the grave has already been filled with sand, then it will be permissible to offer salaat over his grave. If salaat was offered over a person who was not given ghusl or tayammum and he was buried thereafter, and later it came to be known that ghusl was not given to him, then the salaat will have to be repeated over his grave. This is because the first salaat was not valid. Since it is not possible to give him ghusl, the (second) salaat will be valid.

7. If a Muslim is buried without salaat being offered over him, salaat will be offered over his grave as long as there is no possibility of his corpse disintegrating or decomposing. If one feels that his body has disintegrated, salaat should not be offered over his grave. The time that it takes for a body to disintegrate differs from place to place. It is therefore not possible to specify an exact time - this is the most correct opinion in this regard. However, there are those who have specified 3 days, 10 days and one month.

8. It is not necessary for the spot on which the deceased is placed to be pure. If the deceased is placed on a pure bed, or if the bed is impure, or if the deceased is placed on an impure piece of ground without being placed on a bed, then in all these cases there is difference of opinion. According to some ulama, it is a prerequisite for the spot on which the deceased is placed to be pure. If not, the salaat will not be valid. According to others, this is not a prerequisite. Salaat will therefore be valid.

The Third Condition : Those parts of the body which are wajib to be covered have to be covered. If the deceased is completely naked, salaat over him will not be permissible.

The Fourth Condition : The deceased has to be placed in front of those offering salaat over him. If he is placed behind them, salaat will not be valid.

The Fifth Condition : The deceased or the thing upon which he is placed, has to be placed on the ground. If salaat is being offered over the deceased while he is being carried by some people, or while he is placed on a vehicle or an animal, this salaat will not be valid.

The Sixth Condition : The deceased has to be present at that place. If he is not present, salaat will not be valid.

9. Two things are fard in the janaazah salaat: (i) To say Allahu Akbar four times. Here, each takbeer takes the place of one rakaat. (ii) To stand and offer the janaazah salaat. Just as it is fard to stand up and offer the fard and wajib salaats if the person has no valid excuse, so is the case over here. The different valid excuses have already been mentioned in the chapters on salaat.

10. There is no ruku, sajdah, qa'dah , etc. in this salaat.

11. Three things are sunnah in the janaazah salaat: (i) To praise Allah Ta'ala. (ii) To send salutations to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. (iii) To make dua for the deceased. Jama'at is not a condition for janaazah salaat. Even if one person offers the janaazah salaat, this fard duty will be fulfilled. This is irrespective of whether the person offering the salaat is a male, a female, a mature person or an immature person.

12. However, there is a greater need for a jama'at because this is a dua for the deceased. For a few people to get together and ask Allah Ta'ala for a certain thing has a special significance in attracting the mercy and acceptance of Allah Ta'ala.

13. The sunnah and mustahab method of janaazah salaat is as follows: The deceased should be placed in the front and the imam should stand in line with his chest. Everyone should make the following intention:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Translation : "I intend offering the janaazah salaat for the pleasure of Allah Ta'ala and as a dua for the deceased."

After making this intention, he should raise both hands upto the ears just as he does for the takbeer-e-tahreemah . When doing this he should say Allahu Akbar and thereafter tie his hands just as he does for any other salaat. He should then recite the thanaa' . Thereafter, he should say Allahu Akbar again but he should not raise his hands. He should then recite the durood . It is preferable to recite the same durood that is recited in salaat. He should again say Allahu Akbar without raising the hands. After this takbeer , he should make dua for the deceased. If the deceased is a mature male or female, the following dua should be made:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Translation : "O Allah! Forgive our living and dead, present and absent, big and small, men and women. O Allah! Whoever among us is kept alive by You, keep him alive on Islam, and whoever You give death, let him die on Imaan."

In some Ahadith, this dua has also been mentioned:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is better if both these duas are recited. In fact, Allamah Shaami rahmatullahi alayh, in his book Radd ul-Muhtaar , has written both these duas as one. Apart from these two, other duas have also been related in the Ahadith. Our jurists have also related these duas . One could therefore choose whichever dua one wishes.

If the deceased is an immature boy, the following dua should be recited:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Translation : "O Allah! Make him a source of happiness for us. And make him a reward and a treasure for us. And make him an intercessor for us and one whose intercession is accepted."

If the deceased is an immature girl, the same dua should be recited with the following changes: in all three places, instead of reading

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this should be read

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and instead of

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this should be read.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once this dua has been recited, Allahu Akbar should be said once more without raising the hands. After this takbeer , the salaam should be made just as it is made for any other salaat. There is no at-tahiyyaat nor any recitation of the Quran in this salaat.

14. The janaazah salaat is the same for the imam and muqtadi . The only difference is that the imam will make the takbeers and the salaam in a loud voice while the muqtadi will make them softly. The remainder of the things, i.e. the thanaa', durood and dua , will be made softly by the muqtadi as well as the imam .

15. It is mustahab to make three saffs for the janaazah salaat. So much so that if there are seven people, one of them will be made the imam , there will be three people in the first saff , two in the second saff , and one person in the last saff .

16. Janaazah salaat becomes invalid by the very things which make other salaats invalid. The only difference is that by laughing aloud, one's wudu will not break. And if a woman stands in line with a man, the salaat will not become invalid.

17. It is makruh-e-tahrimi to offer janaazah salaat in a musjid which has been built for the five daily salaats, the jumu'ah salaat or the eid salaats . This is irrespective of whether the janaazah is offered inside the musjid or the janaazah is placed outside whilst the people are standing inside the musjid. However, janaazah salaat will not be makruh in a musjid which has been built specifically for this purpose.

18. It is makruh to delay the janaazah salaat with the purpose of attracting a larger crowd.

19. It is not permissible to sit down or sit on any vehicle and offer janaazah salaat if there is no valid excuse.

20. If there are several janaazahs to be offered, it is better to offer each one individually. However, it is permissible to offer one janaazah salaat for all the janaazahs. In such a case, a saff for all the janaazahs should be made. A good method of doing this is that each janaazah should be placed next to the other in such a way that all their feet are on one side, and their heads the other side. This method is preferable because all their chests will be in line with the imam . And it is sunnah for the imam to stand in this way.

21. If the janaazahs are of different types, their saff should be arranged in this way: the janaazahs of all the men should be placed near the imam , thereafter the boys', thereafter the mature women's, and thereafter the girls'.

22. If a person joins the janaazah at such a time that a few takbeers were made prior to his arrival, he will be regarded as a masbuq for the takbeers which he missed. Upon reaching the janaazah salaat, he should not immediately join in as he normally does for other salaats. Instead, he should wait for the takbeer of the imam . When the imam makes the takbeer , he should also do so. This takbeer will be regarded as his takbeer-e-tahreemah . When the imam makes his salaam , this person should complete the takbeers which he missed. There is no need for him to recite anything.

If a person reaches at such a time that the imam has already made the fourth takbeer , then with regard to this fourth takbeer , he will not be regarded as a masbuq . He should immediately make the takbeer and join the salaat before the imam can make salaam . On the completion of the salaat, he should repeat all the takbeers which he missed.

23. If a person was present at the time of takbeer-e-tahreemah or for any of the other takbeers and was even ready to join the salaat, but did not join due to laziness or some other reason, then he should immediately make the takbeer and join the salaat. He should not wait for the next takbeer of the imam . He will not have to repeat the takbeer for which he was present (but did not make) as long as he makes it before the imam can make the next takbeer . He must complete this takbeer even though he did not make it simultaneously with the imam .

24. If the masbuq begins to complete the takbeers which he missed, and he fears that if he will recite the dua he will get delayed and the janaazah will be carried away from the front, then he should not recite the dua .

25. If a person becomes a laahiq for a janaazah salaat, the same rules as for the other salaats will apply to him.

26. The most worthy person for the imamaat of janaazah salaat is the ruler of the time even if there are more pious people than him who are present over there. If he is not present, then his deputy, i.e. the one who is appointed by him, will be the most worthy even if there are others who are more pious than him. If he is not present, then the judge of the city. If he is not present, then his deputy. In the presence of these people, it is not permissible to appoint anyone else as the imam without their permission. It is wajib to appoint these people as the imam . If any of these people are not present, the most worthy will be the imam of the area. This is on the condition that there isn't anyone more qualified than him from among the relatives of the deceased person. Or else, those relatives of the deceased who have the right to succeed him, have the right of becoming imam . Or that person whom they give permission to. If anyone who is not worthy of imamaat , makes imamaat without the permission of the relatives, then they have the right to repeat the salaat. So much so, that if the deceased is already buried, they could offer the salaat over the grave until such time that the body has not started to disintegrate or decompose.

27. If a person who is worthy of imamaat , makes imamaat without the permission of the relatives, then the relatives cannot repeat the salaat. Similarly, if the relative of the deceased performed the salaat in the absence of the ruler or his deputies, then the ruler does not have the right to repeat the salaat. In fact, even if the relatives offer the salaat in the presence of the ruler, the ruler does not have the choice to repeat the salaat. This is despite the relatives getting the sin of not appointing the ruler. Because to appoint the ruler is wajib , as mentioned previously.

In short, it is not permissible to offer one janaazah several times. This is only permissible for the relatives if the janaazah was offered without their permission by a person who is not eligible to do so.