ALMISKEENAH

"O messenger of God! My parents have died, is there anything left with which I may be good to them?" And he replied: "There are four things: praying and asking forgiveness for them, carrying out their promises, being good to their friends, and giving proper attention to those kinship bonds which could only have been attended to by them."

And the Prophet said, blessings and peace upon him: "Were it not for the living the dead would have been doomed". In other words, because of the prayers and requests for forgiveness and for mercy which they receive.

And he said, blessings and peace upon him: "My Nation is a nation covered with mercy. Its members enter their graves with sins like unto mountains, and leave their graves having been forgiven because the living have asked forgiveness for the dead."

It is related that the gifts of alms, prayers, and Quranic recitation sent by the living to the dead reach them carried by the angels on plates of light, and adorned with silk handkerchiefs, and they say to them: "This gift is from so—and—so," and in this way they find joy and delight.

How the Living may help the Dead from The Lives of Man excerpted from here. 

"You should know that it is recommended to visit graves. The Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, permitted this after having at first forbidden it.

It contains benefits both for the living visitor and the dead person who receives the. The Prophet said, blessings and peace be upon him, "Visit graves, for they are a reminder of death." And "I used to forbid you to visit graves, but now you should visit them. They render one able to do without the things of the world, and remind one of the Hereafter." He also said: "No man visits the grave of his brother and sits by it but that he (the dead man) finds solace in this, having his spirit restored to him until the visitor departs." And he said: "A dead [person] in his grave is never more comforted than when those that he loved the world pay him a visit."

When a visitor enters the cemetery or passes it by he should say: "Peace on you, O place of believers. We are granted respite until tomorrow. That which you were promised has come to you, and we will, God willing, rejoin you. You are our predecessors and we are your followers. I ask God to us and you well being. O God forgive us and them."

It is recommended to visit the cemetery on Thursday night, Friday, Friday night until sunrise, and on Monday, for it is said—and this is supported by various narrations—that the spirits of the dead return to their graves at those times.

The visitor must ask for forgiveness and mercy for them, read whatever Quran he can and make over the reward to them, he should remember that soon he will go to the same end, and learn the lessons to be drawn from their condition.

When he visits the graves of his parents, relatives or anyone else who had rights over Him, he must sit with unhurried serenity, pray for them, and ask abundantly for forgiveness, for they rejoice at this, and are glad."

The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife, from The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya `ulum al-din) by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE) or CD set here, excerpt here.

Alluhumma Salli ‘alaa Sayyidna Muhammad wa ‘alaa Aali Sayyidna Muhammad ‘adada kulli dharRatin alfi marRatin.

O Allah send blessings upon our master Muhammad and upon the descendants of our master Muhammad by the number of each atom a thousand times.

JUMA’AH MUBARAK!

A Juma’ah where the remembrance of all dear departed are the focus of the hearts and where the reality of our purpose here is reflected upon.