| Absentee funeral prayer | |
|---|---|
| Official name | صلاة الغائب |
| Also called | Funeral prayer |
| Observed by | Muslims |
| Type | Islamic |
| Significance | A Muslim prayer offered to God in a funeral occasion for an absent person. |
| Observances | Sunnah prayers |
| Frequency | Occasionally |
| Related to | Salah, Nafl prayer, Five Pillars of Islam |
| Part of a series on |
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Absentee funeral prayer in Islam, known as Salat al-Gha'ib (Arabic: صلاة الغائب), is a kind of funeral prayer performed upon a dead Muslim if they die in a place where there are no Muslims to pray for the dead. By contrast, if someone dies and a funeral prayer is said on his or her behalf, no other prayer is necessary.[1] [2]
The Hadith, or traditions of Muhammad, approve of offering funeral prayers for an absent person. Abu Hurayrah reports: "The Prophet informed his companions about the death of Negus (Najashi), the king of Abyssinia, the day that he died. And then the Prophet led them to the prayer ground where he lined them up and offered funeral prayer for him with four Takbirs".[3]
The time for offering a funeral prayer for an absent person should be within one month after his death. This rule is deduced from the Mursal Hadith stating that Muhammad performed a funeral prayer on the grave of a woman one month after her death, as Sayeed Ibn al-Musayyab reports: "Saad Bin Ubadh's mother died while the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was absent. When he came to Madinah one month later, he offered the funeral prayer on her grave." [Tirmizi]
- ^ "Funeral Rites and Regulations in Islam". missionislam.com. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ "فتوى الشيخ حمود بن عقلاء الشعيبي في الصلاة على الميت الغائب". Saaid.net. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
- ^ [Reported by Imams Bukhari and Muslim]