From the lessons of "Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib" by al-Mundhiri, "Chapter: Encouraging hastening with the funeral and expediting burial"

The Shaykh: , 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, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
Our lesson tonight is from the book "Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib" by al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri, in the "Chapter: Encouraging hastening with the funeral and expediting burial." The first hadith is authentic, as indicated by the author's tracing of it. He said (may Allah have mercy on him):
From Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: , narrated by al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah.
In this authentic hadith, there is an explanation of the etiquette, indeed an obligation among the obligations of accompanying the funeral of a Muslim; namely, the obligation to hasten in preparing it and delivering it to its grave. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) explains in this hadith the legal cause that necessitates this legal ruling; namely, hastening in preparing the deceased and burying him. He says: If the deceased is righteous, then expediting him and his burial in his grave is good that you hasten to him. And the opposite is the opposite; delaying his burial is only delaying that good from him. What is the good that the Messenger (peace be upon him) refers to in this hadith regarding the righteous man, of whom it is presumed the funeral should be? What is this good that we present and hasten to him?
It is what came in some hadiths whose chains are not authentic but whose meanings are authentic; such as: . This meaning came in many authentic hadiths, as I had gathered some of them in my printed and well-known book "Rulings on Funerals and Their Innovations." There are hadiths indicating that when the deceased is placed in his grave, if he is a believer, and he is asked by the two noble angels, Munkar and Nakir, the well-known question: "Who is your Lord? Who is your Prophet? What is your religion?" If he is a believing, righteous man, he answers with the answer that was imprinted in his heart on the day he was enjoying the intellect that is the basis of the Lawgiver's obligation upon him. He responded to the call of Allah and the Messenger and believed in everything the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) brought. So his answer will be, as it is said today, "automatic" and natural; because he is saturated with this creed until his last breath. So his answer to the first question will be: "My Lord is Allah," to the second: "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," and to the third: "My religion is Islam." Then it will be said to him: "Sleep the sleep of a bride." A window will be opened for him from his grave from which he sees and looks out upon his home and place in Paradise. He will receive from its spirit and fragrance, and he will continue to enjoy that until the Hour stands. If the man is a hypocrite or a disbeliever, he is unable to answer; because, as it is said, one who lacks a thing cannot give it. He was in the world when he was obligated to believe in Allah and His Messenger, he was a disbeliever, or he was a hypocrite who displayed Islam and concealed disbelief. So when he is asked: Who is your Lord? Who is your Prophet? What is your religion? He does not know. So when he answers with: "I do not know," it is said to him: "You did not know and you were not guided." And he is struck with that hammer, and the ribs of his body interlock with each other from its intensity and weight. And thus a window is opened for him from which he looks out upon his place in the Fire. He will receive from its smoke and flame, and he will continue to be tortured with that until the Hour stands.
So, if it is righteous, it is good that you hasten to it. This is the good, meaning this bliss, which is better than the bliss of this world, no matter what this bliss in this world is, but it is less than the bliss of the Hereafter. It is a model and a miniature example of this bliss that the Muslim receives in his grave until the Hour stands. So, if the funeral is righteous, we must hasten with it and deposit it in its grave so that it may enjoy this bliss until the Hour stands.
And the opposite is the opposite; if this funeral is not righteous, it is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ; meaning we get rid of it and are relieved of its evil. These meanings and details, between the funeral being righteous and being inauspicious, and the ruling or consequence that follows due to the difference in righteousness and inauspiciousness in funerals; this is something no one in this world knows except the Muslim who believes in Allah and His Messenger. Because this is from the matters of the unseen, which the intellect and experimental science have no reach to and cannot know their realities. Rather, it is from the knowledge of faith in the unseen, and that is the affair of the Muslim. Therefore, the Muslim is driven in his life and all his actions based on the creed he believes in. And the opposite is the opposite entirely; when the Muslim remembers this legal scientific reality, which is that the funeral is either righteous, in which case those carrying it must hasten to bury it so that they do good to it, if they delay in preparing and burying it, they have done evil to it. The wise Lawgiver disciplines the Muslim to do good to his Muslim brother, alive and dead. These meanings are not known by others who were deprived of the blessing of faith in Islam.