From the Secrets of the Prophetic Supplication

Occasion: A Fajr khatira delivered on 19 June 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Yesterday we spoke about some of the supplications with which the Prophet ﷺ would open his prayer, and then we moved on to the supplication of istikhāra, and how the Prophet ﷺ used these words, humbly beseeching Allah, Blessed and Exalted, in every matter of his life and in every detail of this world.

Supplication at the Heads of the Dead

Today we remind ourselves of the importance of supplication, and of how we stand at the heads of the dead when they are laid before us and supplicate for them with the supplication of the Prophet ﷺ. A Muslim dies in Madinah, and the noble Prophet stands to pray over his funeral and presents him to his Lord with these words:

«اللهم اغفر له وارحمه وعافه واعف عنه، وأكرم نُزُله ووسّع مُدخَله، واغسله بالماء والثلج والبَرَد، ونقِّه من الخطايا كما يُنقّى الثوب الأبيض من الدنس، وأبدله دارًا خيرًا من داره، وأهلًا خيرًا من أهله، وزوجًا خيرًا من زوجه، وأدخله الجنة، وأعِذه من عذاب القبر ومن عذاب النار».

(O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, grant him well-being and pardon him; honour his reception and make his entrance spacious; wash him with water, snow and hail; cleanse him of his sins as a white garment is cleansed of dirt; give him in exchange a home better than his home, a family better than his family, and a spouse better than his spouse; admit him to Paradise, and protect him from the punishment of the grave and the punishment of the Fire.)

The narrator of the ḥadīth said: I wished that I were that deceased man who had obtained these blessed supplications; I wished that I were in his place so that I might receive such a supplication from the Prophet ﷺ.

Renewing Our Covenant with Ourselves

We renew our covenant with ourselves that we are travelling toward just such a destiny, and moving on to just such a destination.

The Prophet ﷺ never spoke with random wording, and his supplication never came from anything but a soul attached to Allah and a self that trusted in what is with the Lord of Might, Glorified and Exalted. For this reason, the wording of his words, peace and blessings be upon him, suited his standing at the place and occasion of the supplication. Hence his words had their effect on that Companion who wished to be the deceased so that he might receive such supplications from the Prophet ﷺ.

He also mentioned another supplication for the funeral^[1], whose text is this: «اللهم عبدك وابن عبدك خرج من رَوح الدنيا وسعتها إلى ظلمة القبر وما هو لاقيه، كان يشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت وأن محمدًا عبدك ورسولك وأنت أعلم به. اللهم إنه نزل بك وأنت خير منزول به، وأصبح فقيرًا إلى رحمتك وأنت غني عن عذابه، وقد جئناك راغبين إليك شفعاء له. اللهم إن كان محسنًا فزد في إحسانه، وإن كان مسيئًا فتجاوز عنه، وآتِه برحمتك رضاك، وقِه فتنة القبر وعذابه، وافسح له في قبره، وجافِ الأرض عن جنبيه، ولقِّه برحمتك الأمن من عذابك حتى تبعثه إلى جنتك يا أرحم الراحمين».

(O Allah, Your servant and the son of Your servant has departed from the comfort of the world and its spaciousness to the darkness of the grave and what he will meet there. He used to bear witness that there is no god but You and that Muhammad is Your servant and Messenger, and You know him best. O Allah, he has come down to You, and You are the best to be come down to; he has become in need of Your mercy, while You are free of need of his punishment. We have come to You longing for You, as intercessors for him. O Allah, if he was a doer of good, increase him in his good; and if he was an evildoer, overlook his misdeeds. Grant him, through Your mercy, Your good pleasure; protect him from the trial of the grave and its punishment; make his grave spacious for him; keep the earth away from his sides; and, through Your mercy, let him meet security from Your punishment until You resurrect him into Your Paradise, O Most Merciful of the merciful.)

I ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to bring us and you to our place of security in His presence, and to grant us a good ending and a good outcome in all our affairs.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The transcript mentions Imam al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on him, before this supplication, but its attribution to him is not certain; the supplication is narrated in the books of Sunan and fiqh with similar wordings.