What do you do when a Muslim is dying?

In more detail

• Help them hope in Allah

  Three days before he died, the Prophet ﷺ said: none of you should die except thinking well of Allah. The Mālikī text recommends that the dying person be helped to hope in Allah’s mercy more than at any other time.

  Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2877a · Al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 1:414

• The shahādah, gently

  The Prophet ﷺ said: prompt your dying to say lā ilāha illā Allāh, and: whoever’s last words are lā ilāha illā Allāh will enter Paradise. Do it gently and without pressing them: say it near them, where they can hear. The Shāfiʿī and Mālikī texts add: do not tell them “say it”, so they are not burdened. Once they have said it, do not repeat it unless they speak of something else; some Shāfiʿīs allow repeating it up to three times.

  Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 916a · Sunan Abī Dāwūd 3116 (ṣaḥīḥ, al-Albānī) · Al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ (Shāfiʿī), 5:115–116 · Al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 1:414 · Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 2:335–336 · Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār (Ḥanafī), 2:189–190

• Facing the qiblah

  All four schools recommend turning the dying person to face the qiblah: lying on the right side, as in the grave, or on the back with the feet toward the qiblah and the head raised a little. The Ḥanafī text adds: if moving them is hard on them, leave them as they are.

  Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār (Ḥanafī), 2:189–190 · Al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 1:414 · Al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ (Shāfiʿī), 5:115–116 · Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 2:335–336

• Yā Sīn

  The ḥadīth “recite Yā Sīn over your dying” is graded weak by al-Albānī. Many scholars still recommend reading it beside the dying: the Shāfiʿī school, and Aḥmad, who said they recite it to ease the person. Any recitation and remembrance of Allah is good.

  Sunan Abī Dāwūd 3121 (WEAK: ḍaʿīf, al-Albānī; chapter: reciting for one who is dying) · Al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ (Shāfiʿī), 5:115–116 · Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 2:335–336

• Say good, and stay near

  When you are with the sick or the dead, say what is good, for the angels say āmīn to what you say. Ibn Qudāmah recommends that the gentlest and most God-fearing of the family, who knows best how to care for them, stay with them, gently remind them of repentance, of righting any wrongs and of their will, and moisten their lips with a little water.

  Write your janazah wishes

  Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 919 · Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 2:335–336

• In a hospital or hospice

  Tell the staff the family’s religious wishes early. The Joint Commission asks hospital staff to approach rituals before and after death with sensitivity, and to consult a professional chaplain whenever possible. Ask whether the bed can be turned toward the qiblah, and call the masjid so an imam or a relative can be with them.

  For hospital staff

  The Joint Commission, A Roadmap for Hospitals (2010), Chapter 4: End-of-Life Care