ALMISKEENAH

 

THE SHROUD

Abi Ishaq narrated that Haritha bin Mudhrab said: “One time, after the passing of Allah Ta’ala’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam we visited Khabbab ibn Al-Arat RadhiAllahu anhu on a day he was cauterized in seven areas of his body to treat some festering wounds he had suffered earlier at the hands of his torturers. When we enquired how he felt he replied, ‘Had Allah Ta’ala’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam not forbade us to wish for death, I would have wished for it right away!’ Someone asked Khabbab, ‘Tell us something about the early days in Islam, about your fellowship with Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and how it was like to visit with him?’

In the course of his talk, Khabbab, RadhiAllahu anhu ‘I know of no one who was subjected to unbearably painful and harrowing physical torture, yielding permanent injury such as I sustained. Furthermore during slavery I was so poor there was a time when I did not even have a decent rag to put on me to go and see him SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, and by contrast, here I am today, sitting on forty thousand Dirham, laying somewhere in the house.

Khabbab, RadhiAllahu anhu then asked for his burial shroud, and when he saw it and held it in his hand, he embraced it and wept over it. When he recouped he resumed: ‘When Hamza RadhiAllahu anhu was killed, we couldn’t find more than a begrimed scanty piece of an old cloak to shroud him with, and which when pulled up to cover his head, it became short of covering his feet, and when we stretched it down to his feet, it exposed his head. Finally we laid it down as it was to cover his head and we then covered his feet with some branches of Athkhar, Makkan grass.’”

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Ishaq al-Thaqfi narrated that Umm Dharr RadhiAllahu anha, the wife of Abu Dharr al-Ghafari RadhiAllahu anhu said: “When Abu Dharr was dying, he saw me crying and asked me, ‘Why are you crying?’ I replied, ‘I do not know what to do! I surely cannot wash your body and shroud you all by myself. I do not have a single robe that is big enough to shroud you, nor do we have in this entire place enough material to shroud your body with!’ Abu Dharr RadhiAllahu anhu said: ‘Do not cry, listen, I was once sitting in a group of people, and I heard Allah Ta’ala’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam say to us, ‘One of you will die in a desolated place, and near his death a group of believers will pass by and they will bury him and officiate his funeral prayer.’ O Umm Dharr RadhiAllahu anha, none of those who were sitting in that gathering is alive today except me, and each one of them have died in a town, or surrounded with a group of believers, and therefore, I believe that I am the one who will die in a desolated area as predicted by Allah Ta’ala’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. I swear by Allah Ta’ala that I am not lying, nor did I ever disbelieve in what Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said. Go and look outside and perhaps you will see a group of travelers coming this way.’

Umm Dharr RadhiAllahu anha continued: ‘When I understood I had no more excuses but to accept what I was told to do.’ She then divided her attention between attending to her dying husband, and looking outdoors to find out about the traveling group of believers. One moment she stood near a dune looking in all directions, and in the middle of her dilemma there appeared in the horizon the shadows of travelers on their horses, they floated smoothly across the desert, and the winds raised their overcoats to near their shoulders, making them appear from a distance like gliding kites. She immediately waved her extra robe signaling them to come to her rescue. When they arrived, they asked her what she needed. She replied there is a dying Muslim in this dwelling, would you please help me in shrouding and burying him?’ Someone asked who it was and she sobbingly told them: ‘Abu Dharr’ Hearing his name the entire group gasped: ‘This is the beloved companion of Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, and by Allah, we will surely sacrifice and risk everything for his sake.

They jumped off their horses and hastened to his bedside. Seeing them Abu Dharr smiled and then told them of what Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam had predicted. He further continued: ‘O good people, did you hear what I said? I swear in the name of Allah that is I had even a single overcoat which could cover me or my wife I would certainly ask to be shrouded in it, and I would not have asked anyone for a piece of shroud. I beg you in the name of Allah and Islam, let no leader among youwash me or shroud me, nor should a corporal, a captain, or a courier among you do that, for no one among your elite but has committed what he admonishes others not to do. Furthermore, let no one who last night had relations with his wife shroud me, except for a youth from Madinah and who is here with you.’

Immediately a young man from the ansar said; ‘O uncle, I am not married, I will shroud you in my own coat, and I will use two extra coats my mother has spun and woven for me.

When Abu Dharr RadhiAllahu anhu died, the young man washed and shrouded him as promised, and a group of Madinites, including Hajru ibnAl-Adbar and Malik ibn al-Ashtar, among others from Yemen officiated at his funeral. May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with them all, Ameen.

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Abu Hamed ibn Jabl narrated: “Huthaifa RadhiAllahu anhu was leaning on Abu Mas’oud’s RadhiAllahu anhu shoulder when he saw someone bringing a new shroud. He said: ‘Why would you shroud your friend in this new fabric? Surely should your friend be of any worth, the Allah the most exalted, blessed be His Name, will replace it with what is better. Otherwise, should he be unfitting to wear such excess, his shroud will writhe him contortedly between the two walls of his grave and it will throw him perpetually from one side of his grave to the other, from the time he is buried until the Day of Resurrection.’”

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Hafs ibn Umar, Abu Umar al-Barmaki narrated that Maimoun ibn Mihran said: “I witnessed the funeral of Abdullah ibn Abbas RadhiAllahu anhu at the city of Ta’if. When he was laid down for the funeral prayer, a white bird flew in and alighted on his body, and then it entered in between the layers of his shroud.  We immediately looked for the bird to let it out but we couldn’t find it, so we gave up searching for it. Once we had finished the prayer and laid the body in the grave, the entire congregation heard a distinct voice, although no one was to be seen, reciting the verse,

O soul at peace, return to your Lord well pleased and well pleasing, go in among My servants, and into My Garden  (89:27-30)

 

All above excerpts from The Beauty of the Righteous and Ranks of the Elite. (contents, preface)

Detailed descriptions and diagrams of the kafn, shroud here, 2, 3, and buy shroud kits here.

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. Ameen.