Fiqh of Janazah & Spiritual Preparation

The Inevitable Event - The Fiqh of Janazah

This course was not for the faint hearted and not something that you would say was top priority learning on a Saturday Morning!

The course was organised by Utrujj and taught by Shaykh Hatham Tamim at SOAS. I was looking forward to the course as the topic of death has to be in our minds as much as life as we know it. The course was exceptional, however on such a topic one day was far to less to go through all the content, practical demo' and Q&As. It is a start and one must read on and understand InshaAllah.

I have not witnessed death in family or have close Friends passing away. Those that have passed away have been extensions to my families or friends parents that have passed away or I have have known for a short time. Seeing my parents from being active and healthy to being dependant on us especially in recent years has made me think about death much more, thus me attending the course. May Allah swt provide me the Ilm to understand and learn from this course. Ameen.

Contents

The course covered the following topics:

• What to do and say when someone is at the point of approaching death
• The Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) regarding attitude towards death
• The importance of remembering death and preparing for it
• How to wash the body correctly (with practical demonstration)
• How to pray Janazah (funeral prayer)
• The rulings and etiquette's of burial
• Where to bury deceased Muslims
• The etiquette's of grieving
• The etiquette's of visiting the graves
• Common misconceptions surrounding the above topics

Each and every one of us will one day meet with our death.

There was much things on the course which due to the time cannot be expanded on right here. Some of my own Questions such as how long is it permissible to delay the funeral? does the maut (deceased) feel and hear when they die? What should one read pre-death? How should one prepare the mawt body for the burial? And who is permitted by Shariah to do this? What are the etiquette's of grieving and visiting the graves?

The course covered all the Questions and more, with a practical demonstration too on how to wash the body and cloth it in preparation for the burial.

There are some differences between Madhabs on certain specific issues too. One should not concern themselves with the differences as the Imams that the Madhabs have such Ilm one should not be in a position to comment.