From the hadiths encouraging the digging of graves and shrouding the dead.

The Shaykh : ... We praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whoever He misleads, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. , , . As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, every innovation is a religious innovation, every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
Our lesson tonight is from *Al-Raghba wa al-Ra'iba* (Encouragement and Warning), and in accordance with our practice of limiting the teaching to authentic hadiths, whether good or sound, and avoiding those of lesser grade, the topic is: "Encouragement to dig graves, wash the dead, and shroud them."
The first hadith—and it is sound—is narrated by him (may Allah have mercy on him) from Abu Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Al-Tabarani narrated it in *Al-Kabir*, and its narrators are relied upon in the sound collections. Al-Hakim also narrated it and said: "Sound according to the conditions of Muslim." Its wording is: , to the end. There are other narrations in the tracing of this hadith that are not within our scope.
This hadith contains a strong exhortation for a Muslim to take charge of washing his deceased Muslim brother first. In reality, this is one of the matters that has become abandoned and neglected today by the masses of practicing Muslims, let alone others. I mean: that a Muslim should take charge of washing his Muslim brother, and not hand over the washing to those who have made washing the dead Muslims a profession, performing it only for a wage they receive from the state or elsewhere. Washing the dead, like shrouding, preparing, and burying them, is an act of worship among the Islamic acts of worship that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged, varying the types of encouragement for it. Among these is this hadith before you, which includes his saying (peace be upon him): . The concealment here includes two things:
The first is what usually does not indicate righteousness or wickedness, namely what may come out of the deceased while he is on the washing place, such as waste or filth. This is natural for some people who have a specific constitution or health condition or similar causes. Something may come out of such people. So first, it should be concealed from the one who took charge of washing and shrouding him.
The other thing—and it is more important than the first—is what may appear on the deceased while he is being washed, a darkness regarding matters related to spiritual or moral aspects. The washer may feel that what he saw on this deceased, for whom he took charge of the washing, is a sign of his lack of righteousness. This is the least that can be said. Whether what the washer saw of the deceased was of the first type or the second type, he must keep it secret from the people, and it must remain a secret in his heart, which he never reveals.
Whoever washes a deceased person in this manner and conceals what he saw on him that is not good to display or spread . And in the other narration: . I regret to say now that I did not notice when I prepared this lesson the difference between the two narrations. The first narration is: , and the other is: . There is a difference between the two narrations, and although this difference can be reconciled according to the rules of the principles of jurisprudence by applying the absolute to the qualified, the condition for that is that each of the two narrations must be established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). But if one is established and the other is not, then there is no need for us to reconcile them, based on the principle in the etiquettes of washing the deceased which states: "This deceased does not deserve this consolation." So if one of the narrations is not correct, why should we occupy ourselves with it? I say, with regret, that I did not notice the disagreement between the narrations to verify whether both are established or only one. So this is left for the next lesson—if Allah wills—so that we do not speak without knowledge.
In any case, this hadith contains a great exhortation for a Muslim to take charge of washing his Muslim brother and to conceal what he may see on him that we mentioned earlier. It states that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will forgive him forty sins. These sins may be major sins, as in the first narration, and that is not difficult for Allah. Or they may be less than that, for the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is broader than that.
In another hadith that will come shortly—if Allah wills—there is confirmation of the absolute narration. But the matter depends on returning to the chain of the first narration, which is what we are currently dealing with, namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
There is no doubt that the one who takes charge of washing the dead does so not out of desire for what is with Allah, but out of greed for what is with the servants of Allah in terms of wages and material gain. There is no doubt that such people do not care about adhering to such etiquette. They may talk about the bad things they saw in those they took charge of washing. So this hadith contains an indirect warning against the washer talking about anything he sees in those he took charge of washing. Then, in the hadith, there is an exhortation to another matter that has unfortunately become a profession, where we cannot see anyone doing it except what may occur in some villages or suburbs far from the capital. That is his saying (peace be upon him): , meaning: he covers it and protects it from being dug up, whether by beasts or by people like beasts who have a great desire to dig up the graves of Muslims. So in this second part of the hadith, there is an exhortation from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for a Muslim to dig the grave of his Muslim brother so that he may protect it, cover it, and hide it. He says in explaining the virtue of the one who digs the grave for a Muslim: . In this hadith, or in this analogy, there is an explanation of a matter that the masses of wealthy Muslims today have long neglected, which is the virtue of the one who facilitates for his poor Muslim brother who cannot find a shelter or dwelling to take refuge in. We take the virtue of this from the analogy, because the one who digs a grave for his brother is as if he housed him in a dwelling until the Day of Resurrection. The thing being compared is usually less than the thing it is compared to. So housing a living poor Muslim in a house that shelters and protects him is undoubtedly better than digging a grave for him or other Muslims that covers and protects him until the Day of Resurrection. So the Messenger (peace be upon him) says: . So there is an exhortation for the wealthy among Muslims to think of the poor and needy who cannot find a dwelling, and who perhaps live in cramped dwellings where they find difficulty from many aspects, including the fact that it is not easy for them to secure the rent for this dwelling in many cases. So whoever helps his Muslim brother and provides him with a dwelling, by buying him a home or relieving him of the rent for the dwelling he lives in, this is even more deserving of reward, as if he housed him until the Day of Judgment.
Thus the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) exhorts Muslims to cooperate and for their living to fulfill some of the rights that their dead have over them. There is no doubt and no question that such guidance does not exist in other religions. This indicates the perfection and completeness of the Islamic Shari'ah, and the truth of Allah the Great, who says: .
There is a point here worth noting, which is a comment on his saying (peace be upon him): . As we have mentioned to you repeatedly, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) established principles and rules for the Muslims, commanding them to adhere to them so that, if they maintain them, they will preserve their Muslim identity and be distinguished not only by their beliefs and morals, but also by their outward appearances and actions. Among these is that he made the grave of a Muslim different, which is an internal matter, unlike the external matter, because we are speaking about digging the grave. The Messenger (peace be upon him) made it necessary that the digging of the Muslim’s grave should also differ in form from the grave of a disbeliever. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): , or in another narration: . So what is the *lafd* and what is the *shaqq*?
The hole that is dug in the shape of a rectangle, and what do we call it?

The questioner: A parallelogram.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: A parallelogram.

The Shaykh: A parallelogram? A parallelogram. This hole that is dug like this is a *shaqq* hole, which is for us, the Muslims. As for the *lafd* that is for us, as mentioned in the hadith we cited earlier, whether it is the hole that is necessary first, and then a hole is dug in the wall of that first hole, specifically the front wall, this is the *qiblah*, our direction of prayer, and this rectangular hole as we mentioned, and this facade and this wall is the wall facing the *qiblah*. A hole is dug from the inside, sized to fit the body of the deceased, whether large or small, so that this second hole accommodates the body of this deceased. He is placed in it with his face toward the *qiblah* and his back toward the large hole. The secret in this is that when the earth is thrown over him, the earth comes from behind him, and the earth does not fall on his face, as is the case with the hole in the *shaqq* which is for others.
So when the Messenger (peace be upon him) says in this hadith: , he means the prescribed hole for us, and not any hole, even if that is the custom of others from the People of the Book. And unfortunately, this Sunnah—meaning what the Messenger (peace be upon him) called the *lafd*—has become a forgotten matter in many, I do not say all, Islamic countries. I have seen in some countries that are still closer to the Sunnah than our country, people who maintain the *lafd*. I personally, may Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) bless me, participated, and I do not say I dug, because I am unable to do so, unfortunately, but I participated first by directing them to dig the *lafd*, and then I participated by cooperating with them in digging this *lafd* in some Arab countries. Therefore, the Muslim must also pay attention to this issue and not neglect it. And there is no doubt that this is within the limits of ; because, unfortunately, today the Muslim is unable to prepare his own grave, which will be his destination, but rather that is left to those who have made it a profession and have taken control over people by taking the price of the grave at exorbitant amounts. Many people may be unable to afford this price unless they borrow or ask for help, whereas the matter was natural and self-evident: everyone who died would soon find someone to prepare the grave for him without any price and without any favor, because it was one of the matters by which they sought nearness to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
So if we are unable, unfortunately, to practically implement such matters due to the circumstances surrounding us, unfortunately, at the very least, it must remain in our minds so that we do not forget our Shari'ah as days and years pass, and our affairs do not return to the misguidance in which the Christians fell, who were described in Surat al-Fatihah: , meaning those upon whom is the anger are every type of human who knew the truth and deviated from it, while the astray are those who were ignorant of the truth and deviated from it naturally. For example, the first group, those upon whom is the anger, are the Jews, and the example of the other group is the Christians. And this is the most correct of what has been said in the interpretation of this verse . Let no one think that the hadith that came in the interpretation of this verse, saying the Jews the Christians, let no one think that this interpretation is exclusive; meaning: they are only the Jews, and they are only the Christians. It is not so, but the hadith came by way of illustration, not by way of specification. Therefore, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Many of the scholars of the Muslims have a resemblance to those upon whom is the anger and the astray." Those who knew the truth and deviated from it are like the Jews, and those who were ignorant of the truth and deviated from it naturally are like the Christians. So it is upon us to know our Shari'ah and not forget it so that we may act upon it when the way of action and application becomes easy for us. This is what I wanted to draw attention to on the occasion of his saying (peace be upon him): .
The hadith after this is a weak hadith, which we avoid, as we mentioned.
As for the one following it, which is the hadith of Abu Umamah, he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . It was narrated by al-Tabarani in al-Kabir, and this is a good hadith.
And in it is an encouragement for another type, which is easier for many people than the two previous matters, especially among the wealthy and those with means. In the previous hadith, there is an encouragement to wash the deceased. This washing is feared by many people out of misconception. Many people fear taking charge of washing the deceased because they might see him in a dream and be disturbed by the vision. All of this is due to weakness of faith and lack of strength of heart and weakness of the strength of the heart. Also, taking charge of digging the grave is not an easy matter, because it requires strength, as we mentioned earlier. But here is a third thing that is very easy: for a man to take charge of shrouding the deceased. But is the meaning of taking charge of shrouding him only buying the shroud? And we say, for example, to the funeral director who takes charge of shrouding, "The price of the shroud is on me," or does the meaning include taking charge of shrouding him by buying the shroud and by him personally shrouding the deceased in it?
There is no doubt that this is the meaning that should be understood, because the absolute term, and this is the method of the Arabic language, is that the absolute term should be carried out in its absolute sense unless something comes to restrict it. So His saying, “If he shrouds him,” includes buying the shroud and personally overseeing the shrouding of the deceased. This is, then, a third command in the Sharī‘ah’s encouragement of the Muslim to take charge of shrouding the deceased, and his reward with Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is that he will be rewarded with good of the same kind as his deed, because we say, “The reward is of the same kind as the deed.” So this Muslim took charge of shrouding his deceased Muslim brother, but Allah (Mighty and Majestic) rewards him with something better than that: He will dress him in Paradise with its silk, its fine brocade, and its brocade. So in the hadith there is glad tidings for the one who takes charge of shrouding the deceased that he will enter Paradise, because this dressing in brocade cannot be imagined outside of Paradise, because there is only the worldly life, or the barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection), or the Hereafter. The worldly life is not a place for this issue, because brocade is forbidden for the Muslim. In the barzakh, there is no material life like the life we are living now, nor the higher and loftier life that we will live, if Allah wills, later in the Gardens. So what remains is that this dressing is the reward for the Muslim shrouding his deceased brother, and that is only in Paradise. This is a style we know from the Wise Lawgiver: “The necessary consequence of a thing” must be understood. As long as he was given glad tidings of being dressed, that includes that he was given glad tidings of Paradise. Just as the one who did not drink intoxicants in this world will drink them in the Hereafter, and the one who drank them in this world will not drink them in the Hereafter, the meaning of both is that the one who did not drink intoxicants in this world will drink them in the Hereafter, meaning in Paradise. Likewise, the one who wears silk in this world will wear it in the Hereafter . So from this brief, short sentence, “Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will dress him in brocade,” the meaning is that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) will take charge of the one who shrouded his Muslim brother by admitting him into Paradise and dressing him in its silk and its brocade.
As for the remaining hadiths that follow in this chapter, they are between weak and very weak. Our next lesson, if Allah wills, will be on the encouragement to accompany the deceased to the grave and attend his burial.
And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.