Abdul Nasir Jangda – Islamic Funeral Procedure during Pandemics

			Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah who Allah Allah He was to be admiring.
		

			Due to the current situation with COVID-19 and the corona virus pandemic. There are increasing
concerns and questions about how to handle the janazah process and funerals from an Islamic point of
view. Recently, we conducted a column Hangout, which is a program online where a number of column
instructors and scholars come together to have a more detailed discussion and conversation about
certain issues, where we discussed the laws of funerals. However, that being an extended discussion
and conversation, and this being a very, very critical issue in a very serious situation, we felt
that it was prudent that there should be a resource video from Calum detailing out the Islamic and
		

			classical fic understanding on how to go about in this current situation that we're in understanding
that health and government to regulate agencies are placing many different restrictions and
regulations on the funeral process. So while abiding by what the health and government agencies are
imposing as rules and regulations, how can we understand that in light of the Islamic process of
janazah, and funeral. So the way that I wanted to lay this out in sha Allah is that there are five
main components or parts of the funeral process from an Islamic point of view, the very first one is
the washing of the body. Now when it comes to the washing of the body, the typical procedure
		

			according to the son of the prophets, a lot, he said, is that water is poured on the body and a hand
is lightly passed over the body.
		

			The scholars in the football ha have stated that the objective of the washing of the body the
washing part of the funeral process is not so much the cleanliness of the body, but more so it is
something that is done ritualistically as a sign of respect for the deceased and fulfilling the
rights of the deceased. Therefore, when washing the body, even under normal circumstances, the
objective is not necessarily to scrub the body and to cleanse the body. So water is poured, and the
hand is lightly passed over. However, in a circumstance and situation where the hand cannot be
passed over the body due to maybe some kind of trauma or issue, then the scholars have clearly
		

			stated that water can then be poured in that situation. Scholars have even in classical books of
Philip have gone as far as talking about the issue, that if water cannot even be poured, without
causing more detriment to the body, then in that situation Tim is done. What is taken to him very
briefly, is once again a ritualistic thing that is done, when someone needs to attains ritual
Islamic spiritual purification, where we'll do or the taking of a bath of purification after major
impurity, but water is not available or they're not able to use water for whatever reason,
environmentally or health wise, they're not able to utilize the water, then they perform what is
		

			called take them where a person makes contact with something from the earth like dirt, and then they
rub their hands on their face, they make contact with that surface, again, kind of dust off the
extra dust on the hand, and then they pass the hands over the arms, that is called to them. So in
this kind of a situation that is what would be done on the deceased. Now, if that also cannot be
done, because no physical contact is being allowed between living people and the body of the
deceased. Then in that particular situation, the janazah of a person can be valid. If the component
of the washing of the body was not done, the scholars have stated that a janazah can still be seen
		

			as valid. So we would comply with whatever the regulations were in that in that instance. The second
part of the funeral process from an Islamic point of view is the shroud the coffin, the covering of
the body. Now again, under more typical circumstances, there are a number of garments, three for men
five for women, they typically tend to be in Muslim tradition, plain white sheets that are wrapped
around the body. However, in the current situation based off of what we are hearing and learning
that if the body is sealed inside of a bag that cannot be opened, due to health and safety reasons,
as long as that bag is not
		

			not transparent, that bad could actually substitute as the coffin and the Shroud of the deceased.
The third issue is the funeral prayer itself. That is the third component. When it comes to the
funeral prayer Salafi janazah. Once again, there is a lot of versatility, a lot of options and a lot
of flexibility in terms of fic. First and foremost, under more typical circumstances, we have the
janazah prayer in a communal setting in a public area, the community is encouraged to congregate and
pray for the deceased. And we tried to do what's called tuxedo and Gemma are increasing the number
of people there in the congregation. But none of that is mandatory or required for a valid funeral
		

			procedure. Rather, one person suffices for fulfilling the rights of salata janaza for the deceased,
that is first and foremost, and based off of what we have been hearing right now, they are allowing
a limited number of individuals to be able to come and offer the janaza prayer. Secondly, the place
where the janaza prayer is being done, that there is also no requirement from an Islamic point of
view as to it must be done on the masjid premises, or something of that sort. In fact, in the time
of the prophet to love Him, they used to do just now as a de janaza prayer outside of the mustard
facility. At the same time, there is a question that can disallow to janazah be performed on the
		

			premises of the cemetery or the graveyard, then the majority of the scholars state that that is
allowed underneath and necessity, that is not the default. That is not how we normally do things.
But in cases of dire need. In very trying situations. That is something that is allowed, meaning
that the prayer will be considered valid, even if it was done on the premises of the cemetery. So in
the case where they're transporting the body from the facilities where it's being stored directly to
the cemetery, and they offered the janaza prayer there, that would be completely valid. There's
another side issue with the issue of the janaza prayer, the prayer component that I wanted to
		

			mention here as well. There's a practice that is preserved in authentic narration from the tradition
of the prophets. A lot of the some of the Sunnah were the prophets, a lot of them performed what is
called selective janazah Allah Ha ha, he prayed a lot in janazah for a deceased whose body was not
present. That very famously happened in the case of an A joshy, the king of Abyssinia due to that
particular incident and how that is understood by different scholars. Some of the scholars like the
Hanafi school in the Maliki school say that that should not be done that was exclusively done by the
prophets a lot a setup. However, the shafia a school in the humblest school do allow for it. And
		

			when you consider the situation and the circumstances that we are in, I would venture to say that it
is allowed for family members who might not be able to be present there and attend the janaza prayer
that they from their homes or wherever they are isolated, that they could offer a salata janaza and
aloha from that location and from that place in order to provide some kind of closure and
consolation in in the situation of such a tragic loss. The fourth component of a funeral process and
procedure in an Islamic point of view is what we call the procession, when hallucinogen as a window
into another body is carried and taken for the burial, the procession itself and that whole process
		

			that is just that is a son of the Prophet sallallahu sallam. And that really depends on the
situation that they're in. So once again, while it is a very noble and beautiful tradition, son of
the prophets allowed him to carry the body, by the family and by the community that they would carry
the body that is not required and a funeral process would be completely valid and would fulfill the
rights of the deceased, even if that form of a procession and carrying physically of the janazah did
not occur. The fifth part of the process is the burial, burying the body in the ground.
		

			The issue of the burial is a very sensitive one, meaning that there is what we call an edge mark and
absolute consensus of all the scholars of Islam that in the Islamic tradition, bodies are buried Of
course in a situation where somebody drowned out at sea or something like that, then obviously the
body is not available. But nonetheless, if we have a body available, the deceased are buried That is
stated it is talked about in the Koran alluded to in the Quran, minha kalapana, Kumasi hunt or Edo
calm and the story of the sons of Adam and so on and so forth. So, this is something that is
absolutely agreed upon. So my purpose of saying that is that in this situation and from what I have
		

			been informed, that is not
		

			Currently, the image that is not currently the instruction, but in the situation that there was
discussion or talk of cremation. That is something that we as a Muslim community would come
together, we would advocate for, and we would try everything within our means we would petition we
would advocate, we would do whatever we could, in order to try to find a way to make it as safe as
possible, and allow for an exemption, at least for the Muslim community, for us to be able to bury
our deceased brothers and sisters, because that is something that no scholar in the Islamic
tradition has ever discussed. An alternative to now when it comes to the actual burial, once again,
		

			if the burial is being done, and there are some kind of workers who have been hired with safety
equipment, who are lowering the body into the grave, and not the community or family members doing
so that is completely valid. The classical scholars have talked extensively about the permissibility
of their being hired workers who are lowering the body into the grave, so that will not be an issue
or a problem. The second issue is that, once again, the Islamic tradition states that we bury
Muslims in a Muslim cemetery and graveyard. But in extreme scenarios, there is a permissibility of
burying Muslims in outside of a Muslim Cemetery in graveyard, but once again, I want to caution,
		

			that is not something that is not an option that we take lightly or easily, as much as possible to
our ultimate extent, that will be our effort. However, in an event in a very, very extreme
situation, that is something that the classical scholars have talked about, that there is room for
permissibility into cases of severe situations. Thirdly, and hopefully in sha Allah, it does not
come to this, it has not come to it at this point in time. But in a very, very dire situation. Once
again, this is not the norm, in a very dire situation, there is an Islamic permissibility of bearing
more than one person in one grave. That is something that has occurred in the Islamic tradition, and
		

			there is permissibility of that, how it even happened during the lifetime of the Prophet sallallahu
Sallam in the aftermath of war, hence, very, very dire situations. But nonetheless, I wanted to just
clarify that there is some discussion about that being a possibility. Lastly, and finally, so I
wanted to detail detail on all these components to illustrate and to explain, what are some of the
different considerations in regards to the different components of the funeral process and procedure
from an Islamic point of view? May Allah subhanaw taala protect everyone May Allah subhanaw taala
keep everyone safe and sound? Lastly, and finally,
		

			as we are already hearing about deaths occurring due to COVID-19. And may Allah subhanaw taala
protect everyone. But in the case that we hear more, we hear of more deaths occurring and more
people experienced the loss of loved ones. I wanted to comfort and console, all of us collectively
together by reminding us of the words of the prophets a lot SLM were the prophets. A lot of them
said, someone who dies of this kind of a very, you know, terrible disease or illness that is
spreading rapidly throughout the community, that they receive the reward of a Shaheed, there is some
discussion scholars say what kind of an illness that alludes to, but many scholars, particularly of
		

			the Arabic language have said that the owner shahidan that the throne would also apply to any other
kind of waba contagious illness. So we hope from the mercy of Allah subhanaw taala for Allah to
extend that mercy and that honor upon everyone who all of our Muslim brothers and sisters who will
lose who have lost their lives and might also lose their lives during this very difficult time. Once
again, may Allah protect everyone May Allah give our whole community strength and safety throughout
this ordeal, does akmola Hayden bark along FICO was Salam alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh