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In these final nights, point the way to faith.

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Acts of Worship

Ep. 3: The Best Du'as for Them | For Those Left Behind

January 13, 2021Dr. Omar Suleiman

What are the best du'as to recite for the deceased? What are the sequences we can derive even for our own personal du'as?

The best du'as for the deceased: ‏

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لَهُ وَارْحَمْهُ وَعَافِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنْهُ وَأَكْرِمْ نُزُلَهُ وَوَسِّعْ مُدْخَلَهُ وَاغْسِلْهُ بِالْمَاءِ وَالثَّلْجِ وَالْبَرَدِ وَنَقِّهِ مِنَ الْخَطَايَا كَمَا يُنَقَّى الثَّوْبُ الأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ ‏

Oh Allah, forgive him and have mercy on him and give him strength and pardon him. Be generous to him and cause his entrance to be wide and wash him with water and snow and hail. Cleanse him of his transgressions as white cloth is cleansed of stains.

اللَّهمَّ اغْفِرْ لِحَيِّنَا وَمَيِّتِنَا وَشَاهِدِنَا، وَغَائِبِنَا، وَصَغِيْرِنَا وَكَبِيْرِنَا، وَذَكَرِنَا وَأُنْثَانَا. اللَّهمَّ مَنْ أَحْيَيْتَه ُُ مِنَّا فَأَحْيِه ِِ عَلَى الإِسْلامِ، وَمَنْ تَوَفَّيْتَه ُُ مِنَّا فَتَوَفَّه ُُ عَلَى الإِيْمَانِ، اللَّهمَّ لا تَحْرِمْنَا أَجْرَهُ، وَلا تُضِلَّنَا بَعْدَهُ

Oh Allah, forgive our living and our dead, those present and those absent, our young and our old, our males and our females. O Allah, whom among us You keep alive, then let such a life be upon Islam, and whom among us You take unto Yourself, then let such a death be upon faith. O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward and do not let us stray after him .

اللَّهمَّ عَبْدُكَ وَابْنُ أَمَتِكَ، اِحْتَاجَ إِلَى رَحْمَتِكَ، وَأَنْتَ غَنِيٌّ عَنْ عَذَابِهِ، إِنْ كَانَ مُحْسِنا ً فَزِدْ فِي حَسَنَاتِه، وَإِنْ كَانَ مُسِيْئا ً فَتَجَاوَزْ عَنْهُ

Oh Allah, this son of a servant of yours is now in need of Your mercy and You are not in need of punishing that person. If he was pious then increase his rewards, and if he was a transgressor then pardon him.

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لأَبِي سَلَمَةَ وَارْفَعْ دَرَجَتَهُ فِي الْمَهْدِيِّينَ وَافْسَحْ لَهُ فِي قَبْرِهِ ‏.‏ وَنَوِّرْ لَهُ فِيهِ وَاخْلُفْهُ فِي عَقِبِهِ فِي الْغَابِرِينَ وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلَهُ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِين

Oh Allah forgive Abu Salamah and raise his rank among those who are rightly-guided. Make his grave spacious for him and give him light in it and grant him a successor from his descendants who remain behind.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

00:38 Why to ask for forgiveness (istighfar) for the deceased

03:18 Importance of making du'a for the deceased

04:02 Du'as to recite for the deceased

8:08 How to pray for the deceased

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, he narrates that a man after his death would be experiencing elevation in his rank with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And as he is elevating, he asks Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ayy rabbi, ayy shaytan haadhi, oh my lord what is this? Where is this coming from? Why am I elevating? And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala answers and says to him, waladuka istaghfara lak, that your son sought forgiveness for you. Can you imagine subhanAllah how beautiful of a connection that is? That that person's soul is ascending through the ranks of al-jannah because of your du'a, because of your supplication, and they know that it's because of your supplication. Now here's the interesting thing, the man did not ask for elevation, he was asking for forgiveness for his father, istaghfar. And I want this to be a rule that you think about when you are thinking about the du'as that are necessary for the dead. Istaghfar starts with everything, Allahumma akhfirlahu, oh Allah forgive him, oh Allah forgive her. It is at the beginning of almost every du'a that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam makes for the deceased is first and foremost istaghfar. He might be thinking you know well and I've actually heard this, you know that person was like an angel, that person didn't do anything, mashAllah he was this, mashAllah she was that. First and foremost you don't know all of the shortcomings of a person and while we assume well of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we don't presume what that person's ultimate standing with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is. How do we balance that with having husn ad-dhanan Allah, with having a good expectation of Allah? Well I mean look at subhanAllah even kitab al-jana'iz, the book of jana'iz, the funeral prayers in an Imam al-Bukhari sahih, the first hadith he actually puts is the
hadith of Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said that whoever says la ilaha illallah will enter jannah, will enter into paradise and Abu Dharr says even if he committed adultery and stole and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says even if he committed adultery and stole. That does not belittle the sin, the crime of adultery and theft. That is the husn ad-dhanan Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the good expectation of Allah that eventually that person will enter into jannah and that's the wisdom of Imam al-Bukhari starting off with that hadith. But still you don't know what shortcomings the person actually had. On top of that what's the connection between istighfar and elevation, seeking forgiveness and a person being elevated in their rank. Not all istighfar is because of a sin that you recognize even of yourself. What's the first thing we do after we pray? Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah. So every istighfar is either a form of expiation or a form of elevation. It is either a form of wiping out sins or a form of increasing in your good and so istighfar is very prominent and very powerful. And I also want to say something that I think is really important for us when we've buried a person. The most desperate times in our own lives are when our duas are most sincere. I'm talking about on an individual level. Think about how desperate and how vulnerable that person is now that they've gone to the grave and they're awaiting those angels to come ask them and this is going to be a very important moment for them and what happens afterwards is no less important. And they can't make dua for themselves. They can't seek forgiveness for themselves. They're depending on you to make those sincere duas for them. SubhanAllah, I mean so think about that role and that responsibility that you have. It's priority over mentioning the good things. It's priority over you know saying
that we're going to be okay. Saying that everything is going to move on. It's priority to make dua for that person particularly to seek forgiveness for that person. And so a few of these duas. The most famous one is from Awf ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu where he said that I heard the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam say at the occasion of the death of one of the companions Allahumma khfir lahu warhamu waAAafihi waAAafu anhu waakrim nuzula wasiAA mudkhala waakhsilhu bilmaa'i waalthalji walbarad waanqihi minalkhataya kama yunakka thawbil abyadu minaddanas This is the dua that you're most likely to hear when you go to the graveyard. It is the most famous dua of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. One that you can make in the janaza after the third takbir and one that you can make at the graveyard and one that you can continue to make afterwards especially in the immediate term after death. Allahumma khfir lahu warhamu. Oh Allah forgive him or her and have mercy on him. WaAAafihi waAAafu anhu and grant them safety and forgive them, pardon them once again. WaAAakrim nuzula and honor the place that they are now settling. Honor the place that they are now settling. Wa wasiAA mudkhala and expand the entrance. Waakhsilhu bilmaa'i waalthalji walbarad and wash them with water and snow and hail. Waanqihi minalkhataya kama yunakka thawbil abyadu minaddanas and purify that person of sin the way that a white garment is purified of dirt. In some of the other duas of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam you'll even see what is prominent in our own duas that you mention the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and invoke the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala which is something that is to be done in our duas to mention Allah's attributes and subhanAllah one of the most powerful duas that I could think about there and one of my favorite ones at the occasion of death is where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said Allahumma abduka wa ibn amatik
oh Allah this servant of yours the son of a servant of yours ihtaja ila rahmatik is now in need of your mercy is in need of your mercy wa anta ghaniyun AAanAAaAAadhaabii and you are not in need of punishing that person. SubhanAllah look at the next part of the dua in kana muhsinan fazidfi hasanatihi wa in kana musian fatajawas AAanhoo if that person was righteous was good as we assume of that person then increase them in their good and if that person was falling short then overlook their shortcomings ya rabbal halameen this is a beautiful and comprehensive and short dua and the last one that I'll mention is one that I actually mentioned in the angel series and talking about Abu Salama radiAllahu ta'ala AAanhoo when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam closed his eyes and said that do not make dua for anything except that it will be beneficial because the angels are going to say Ameen to what you are going to say so be careful with the words that you are about to say as Abu Salama radiAllahu ta'ala AAanhoo has passed away and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said Allahumma khfir li Abi Salama first and foremost oh Allah forgive Abu Salama warfa' darajatahu fil mahdiyin it starts off with a dua for his hereafter and elevate his ranks warfa' darajatahu fil mahdiyin elevate his ranks amongst those who are rightly guided and then he mentions wafsah lahu fee qabrihi and make his grave spacious wa nawwur lahu fee and put light in his grave so it starts off with the hereafter then it goes to the barzakh and then the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says wakhlufhu fee aqibihi filghabireen to take care of his descendants to grant him succession in his descendants who have been left behind so again subhanAllah if you start to even break down this hadith there's a sequence that is present making dua first and foremost for
his ultimate destination his ultimate destination remember what a person is about to experience in the barzakh is only a station of the ultimate destination right so first and foremost warfa' darajatahu fil mahdiyin raise his ranks amongst the rightly guided then make his grave spacious and light it up oh Allah then take care of his descendants so you know the last thing that I'll mention here when you're praying for your loved ones don't always stick to the script and what I mean by that is there's a sequence there are attributes of our dua there is the hamd and the salawat that we have present even in our janaza the praise and the prayers on the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam there's the starting off with forgiveness but make dua from your heart in your own language in a way that you would if you were desperate yourself as that person is desperate and in need of your duas especially in those initial moments
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