Muhammad bin Kathir bin Abi 'Ata' محمد بن كثير بن أبي عطاء الثقفي · Funerals (Kitab Al-Jana'iz)

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone performs ablution well and pays a visit to his (sick) Muslim brother seeking his reward from Allah, he will be removed a distance of seventy years (kharif) from Hell. I asked: What is kharif, Abu Hamzah? He replied: A year. Abu Dawud said: Only the people of Basrah have narrated the tradition on visiting the sick after performing ablution.

When the time of his death came, he called for new clothes and put on them. He then said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: A deceased will be raised in the clothes in which he died.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Recite Surah Ya-Sin over your dying men. This is the version of Ibn al-Ala'

Do not be extravagant in shrouding, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Do not be extravagant in shrouding, for it will be quickly decayed.

This has been abrogated. When Ahmad b. Hanbal was asked about a man taking a bath after his washing the dead, I heard him say: Ablution is sufficient for him. Abu Dawud said: The narrator Abu Salih made a mention of the narrator Ishaq, the client of Za'idah between him and Abu Hurairah. He said: The tradition of Mus'ab is weak. It contains many things that are not practised.

The people saw fire (light) in the graveyard and they went there. They found that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was in a grave and he was saying: Give me your companion. This was a man who used to raise his voice while mentioning the name of Allah.

Zaid b. Arqam used to utter four takbirs (Allah is Most Great) over our dead person (during prayer). He uttered five takbirs on a dead person. So I asked him. He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to utter those. Abu Dawud said: I remember the tradition of Ibn al-Muthanna in a more guarded way.

We went out with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to the funeral of a man of the Ansar, but when we reached the grave, the niche in the side had not yet been made, so the Prophet (ﷺ) sat down facing the qiblah, and we sat down along with him.

This tradition has also been transmitted by Sa'd b. Hisham b. 'Amir with a different chain of narrators.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: I forbade you to visit graves, but you may now visit them, for in visiting them there is a reminder (of death).

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went out to the graveyard and said: Peace be upon you, inhabitants of the dwellings who are of the community of the believers. If Allah wills we shall join you.