The Ruling on Instructing the Deceased After Burial

Question:
The first message in this episode is from the Sultanate of Oman, sent by one of the listening brothers. He says: (H. S. M). Our brother has a message containing eight issues. In one of them, he says: We may witness a strange phenomenon after the burial of the deceased, which is the phenomenon of instructing the deceased after he is buried. The preacher or the imam reads some verses from the Noble Qur'an, then recites them as a will for the deceased. Among the words he preaches to the deceased, he says: "O servant of Allah, do not forget the covenant between us and you, upon which you lived. Your religion is Islam, and your Prophet is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Do not be afraid of the two angels, for they are the servants of Allah..." and so on. The question is: Did this come from him (peace and blessings be upon him) or from his Companions? I ask your Eminence to clarify this, and to mention the evidence from the Sunnah if it came from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon whoever follows his guidance.
As for what follows:
Instructing the deceased after burial is not established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor from his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). It only appears in a fabricated hadith, narrated by al-Tabarani from the hadith of Abu Umamah al-Bahili. It is not established, nor is it authentic; rather, it is fabricated. It is also narrated that a group of the people of Sham did this. The correct view is that it is a religious innovation (bid'ah) and is not prescribed. The deceased is in the state in which he died. Instructing is only done before the soul departs. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , meaning: for those who are dying, instruct them with this great word before they die, which is: (There is no god but Allah). Because he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If he says it with sincerity, and with pure devotion, and with faith in what it indicates of the oneness of Allah (tawhid) and pure devotion to Him, and disavowal of shirk and its people, then Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) makes that one of the causes of his salvation and happiness, provided he was not persisting in any of the major sins. Otherwise, he is under the will of Allah. Whoever dies in sin is under the will of Allah; if He wills, He forgives him, and if He wills, He punishes him according to the sins he died upon.
Then, after being purified in the Fire, Allah will take him out of the Fire into Paradise, if he died upon the oneness of Allah (tawhid), according to the people of the Sunnah and the community (Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah). This is the truth, contrary to the Mu'tazilah and those who follow their path, and contrary to the Khawarij; for they say that the sinner is to be eternally in the Fire, and the Khawarij declare him a disbeliever on that account. The position of the people of the Sunnah and the community, who are the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and their followers with excellence, is that one who dies upon the oneness of Allah (tawhid) while having sins is not declared a disbeliever by them, nor is he to be eternally in the Fire if he enters it. Rather, he is under the will of Allah: if Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) wills, He will forgive him and pardon him because of his oneness of Allah (tawhid), his faith, and his righteous deeds. And if He (Glorified is He) wills, He will punish him according to the magnitude of the major sins he died upon, such as unlawful sexual intercourse (zina), theft, undutifulness to parents, severing family ties, consuming usury or interest (riba), or the like of major sins. This is based on the saying of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in His great Book, in two verses from Surat al-Nisa, where He (Glorified is He) says: [al-Nisa: 48].
So He (Mighty and Majestic) informed that He does not forgive whoever dies upon shirk, and that He forgives what is less than shirk for whom He wills. This indicates that he is not a disbeliever; for the sinner who dies upon some of the major sins is not a disbeliever if he died a monotheist Muslim. So if he dies upon unlawful sexual intercourse (zina) without repenting from it, or undutifulness to parents, or one of them, or consuming usury or interest (riba) without repenting and without considering it permissible, he is under the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So is the one who engages in backbiting and talebearing, and similar sins; he is under the will of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), according to the people of truth, the people of the Sunnah and the community, contrary to the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah and those who follow their path. This is based on the noble verse, and because it is established by mass transmission (mutawatir) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he will intercede on the Day of Resurrection for those who entered the Fire from among the Muslims while they were upon the oneness of Allah (tawhid). Allah sets a limit for him, and he takes him out of the Fire. Then he intercedes, then he intercedes, then he intercedes. Every time he intercedes, Allah sets a limit for him and takes him out of the Fire.
And so the prophets, the angels, the believers, and the foremost in faith will intercede. And a remainder of the people of the oneness of Allah (tawhid) will remain in the Fire. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will take them out of the Fire by the grace of His mercy (Glorified and Exalted is He), after they have been punished in it for the duration that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) willed. This is the truth in which there is no doubt, and it is what the people of the Sunnah and the community hold, from the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and those after them.
As for instructing the deceased after burial, it is a religious innovation (bid'ah). Standing at the grave at his head and saying: "Remember such and such... remember such and such," this has no basis in the Shari'ah. It is only the practice of some scholars, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do it, nor did his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them and grant them satisfaction). Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.