In this book, Shaykh al-Albānī, the renowned scholar of Ḥadīth of this era, addresses the rulings and regulations for both the dying person and those responsible for carrying out the funeral rites, based solely on the Qur’ān and the authentic Sunnah.
It was necessary for the Shaykh to compile such a monumental work due to the un-Islamic practices that have crept into Muslim funeral rites. Some of these practices are forbidden, such as wailing over the dead; some are innovations, such as women partaking in what is referred to as the “year of mourning”; and some even reach the level of shirk [associating partners with Allāh], such as calling upon the dead and performing ṭawāf around the graves.
This book serves as a reference for the English-speaking Muslim, allowing them to differentiate between what is legislated based on the Qur’ān and the authentic Sunnah, in accordance with the understanding of the Companions, and what has no basis in the religion of Islam whatsoever.
Shaykh al-Albānī described his work as follows:
“I made it a stipulation to include only authentic narrations, as is our normal practice in all our works, and all praise is for Allāh, always and forever.”
I have also omitted some material from the text, as well as much of the commentary that does not have a strong or direct connection to the subject matter of the book. Similarly, I have added a few benefits, which cannot be found in the original version.
I ask Allāh, the Most High, to benefit the Muslims through this work, and to make it, like the original version and all my other books, a means to aid them in following the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, and to live a life upon Islām. There is no true way to achieve this except through beneficial knowledge and righteous actions.
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