Life Is Temporary
The Workbook
kept by __________________________
Begun ______________________
كُلُّ نَفْسٍۢ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ
“Every soul will taste death.” Āl ʿImrān 3:185
Keep this with your will, and tell your family where it is.
Before you begin
How to use this workbook
This book is for the people who will look after you when you die. Write in it in pen, a little at a time. You do not need to finish it in one sitting; one page a week is enough.
- Start with Part I. It is the page your family will need in the first hour.
- Never write passwords in this book. Write where they are kept.
- Review it once a year, and sign the record on page 30.
- This book records your wishes. It is not a legal will. An estate attorney can make your wishes legally binding in your state.
- IIf I have died 3
- IIMy janazah 5
- IIIWhat I owe, and what I am owed 9
- IVWhat I have 12
- VMy wasiyyah 17
- VIThe shares 18
- VIIMy will and my children 20
- VIIILetters 22
- IXFor my executor 27
If I have died
Start here
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ
Indeed we belong to Allah, and to Him we will return.
Call this number first
My masjid’s funeral committee. They arrange the washing, the shroud, the prayer and the burial.
Then tell these people, in this order
| Name | Relationship | Phone | Told |
|---|---|---|---|
If I have died
Who should do what
| Task | Person | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Call the masjid funeral committee | ||
| Speak to the hospital or hospice | ||
| Choose the funeral home | ||
| Look after the children | ||
| Look after pets and the house | ||
| Tell my employer | ||
| Find my papers (page 12) | ||
| Act as my executor | ||
Keys and access
Who has a key to my home, my car, my safe. Where the spare keys are.
My janazah
The washing and the shroud
I would like to be washed by
Someone of the same sex, or my spouse, with the masjid’s washers.
My wishes for the washing and shroud
Plain white cotton. The ghusl as soon as possible. Anything else.
Wash three or five times or more, with water and sidr, and camphor in the last washing: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1253. Three white sheets: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1264.
My janazah
The prayer and the burial
Where the janazah prayer should be
Where I would like to be buried
| Cemetery and section | |
|---|---|
| Plot number | |
| Plot paid for? | |
| Where the plot deed is | |
| Burial fund or plan | |
| Member number |
If I die far from home
Bury me where I die, or bring me home? lifeistemporary.com/guides/death-abroad
For those who pray over me
The janazah prayer
- First takbīr. Raise the hands, say Allāhu akbar, and recite al-Fātiḥah. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1335
- Second takbīr. Send blessings on the Prophet ﷺ, as in every prayer. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3370
- Third takbīr. Pray for the one who has died:
اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لَهُ وَارْحَمْهُ وَعَافِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنْهُ وَأَكْرِمْ نُزُلَهُ وَوَسِّعْ مُدْخَلَهُ وَاغْسِلْهُ بِالْمَاءِ وَالثَّلْجِ وَالْبَرَدِ وَنَقِّهِ مِنَ الْخَطَايَا كَمَا نَقَّيْتَ الثَّوْبَ الأَبْيَضَ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ وَأَبْدِلْهُ دَارًا خَيْرًا مِنْ دَارِهِ وَأَهْلاً خَيْرًا مِنْ أَهْلِهِ وَزَوْجًا خَيْرًا مِنْ زَوْجِهِ وَأَدْخِلْهُ الْجَنَّةَ وَأَعِذْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ أَوْ مِنْ عَذَابِ النَّارِ
O Allah! forgive him, have mercy upon him, give him peace and absolve him. Receive him with honour and make his grave spacious; wash him with water, snow and hail. Cleanse him from faults as Thou wouldst cleanse a white garment from impurity. Requite him with an abode more excellent than his abode, with a family better than his family, and with a mate better than his mate. Admit him to the Garden, and protect him from the torment of the grave and the torment of the Fire.
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 963
- Fourth takbīr. A short duʿāʾ, then the salām to the right.
A note for the imam
Anything you would like said, or asked, at your janazah.
My janazah
What I ask of my family
- Bury me as soon as you can. Do not wait for relatives to travel.
- No embalming, no viewing, no display. Spend what would be spent on display on charity.
- Pray over me, and make duʿāʾ for me after the burial.
- Pay my debts before anything else is divided.
- Be gentle with each other. Mourning is kept to three days, except for a widow.
And also
Paid before anything is inherited
What I owe
My debts are paid from my estate after my funeral and before anything goes to my heirs. Please pay every one of them, even the small ones.
| Owed to | Amount | What it is for | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
The order: funeral, then debts, then bequests from a third, then the heirs. al-Sirājiyyah (al-Sajāwandī), opening chapter.
Paid before anything is inherited
Obligations to Allah
Zakat that was due and not paid, fasts that were missed, vows not kept. Ask a scholar how each should be settled from the estate.
| What | Year or amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Debts
What I am owed
| Who owes me | Amount | Forgive it? | Collected |
|---|---|---|---|
What I have
Bank accounts
| Institution | Type of account | Last 4 digits | Where the papers are |
|---|---|---|---|
Where my papers are kept
What I have
Retirement, investments, insurance
| Institution or policy | Type | Beneficiary named | Where the papers are |
|---|---|---|---|
What I have
Property, vehicles, valuables
| What it is | Where it is | Whose name it is in | Where the deed or title is |
|---|---|---|---|
What I have
My digital life
Never write passwords here. Write where they are kept: a password manager’s emergency kit, a sealed envelope, a trusted person.
| Phone passcode is kept | |
|---|---|
| Password manager | |
| Its emergency access is with | |
| Main email account |
| Account | Where the sign-in is kept | What should happen to it |
|---|---|---|
What I have
Bills and subscriptions to cancel
| Bill or subscription | Paid from | How to cancel |
|---|---|---|
Up to one third
My wasiyyah
| Everything I own, roughly | $ |
|---|---|
| Less funeral costs | − $ |
| Less all my debts (page 9) | − $ |
| What remains | $ |
| One third of what remains: the most I may bequeath | $ |
| To whom (not an heir) | Amount or share | Why |
|---|---|---|
A third, and a third is much: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2742. No bequest to an heir: Sunan Abī Dāwūd 2870 (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ).
Sūrat al-Nisāʾ
My heirs
Tick everyone who is alive today, and write how many. Update this page when the family changes.
| Relative | Alive today? | How many |
|---|---|---|
| Husband or wife | ||
| Sons | ||
| Daughters | ||
| Son’s sons | ||
| Son’s daughters | ||
| Father | ||
| Mother | ||
| Father’s father | ||
| Grandmothers | ||
| Full brothers | ||
| Full sisters | ||
| Paternal half-brothers and sisters | ||
| Maternal half-brothers and sisters |
Enter these at lifeistemporary.com/inheritance to see each share. Qurʾān, al-Nisāʾ 4:11; Qurʾān, al-Nisāʾ 4:12; Qurʾān, al-Nisāʾ 4:176.
Sūrat al-Nisāʾ
How my estate divides
| For the heirs (after the bequest) | $ |
|---|---|
| Base of the case (aṣl) |
| Heir | Share | Portions | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
Legal papers
My will
| My will is kept | |
|---|---|
| Date of my will | |
| My estate attorney | |
| Attorney’s phone | |
| My executor | |
| Executor’s phone | |
| Power of attorney held by | |
| Health care directive held by | |
| Funeral wishes agent (if named) | |
| Trust (if any) |
If my children are young
My children
| Guardian I have named | |
|---|---|
| If they cannot |
How I hope they will be raised
Their prayer, their Qurʾān, their school, the people I want in their lives.
In my own words
To my spouse
In my own words
To my children
In my own words
To my parents
In my own words
To ________________
In my own words
To ________________
For my executor
The first day
In the first hours
- In a hospital or hospice, ask the staff to pronounce the death
- At home and unexpected, call 911
- Tell the staff early that the family needs a quick release for a religious burial
- Close the eyes and the mouth
- Straighten the arms and legs
- Cover the body with a clean sheet
- Pray for them, and say only good
- Call the funeral committee or the imam
- Tell them where the body is and who the next of kin is
- Agree a time for the ghusl and the janazah prayer
- Ask the hospital or police whether the case has gone to the coroner
- Ask whether an autopsy is required
- Ask how to register a religious objection under your state law
Within the first day
- Confirm the committee can wash the body there
- Ask for no embalming and no viewing
- Ask the funeral home to file the death certificate and the burial permit
- Confirm who will wash
- Confirm the kafan is ready
- Tell family and community the time of the prayer
- Confirm the grave in a Muslim cemetery or Muslim section
- Ask the plot price and the fee to open and close the grave
For my executor
The weeks and months after
In the first weeks
- Order several certified copies through the funeral home
- Or order them from the your state vital records office
- Pay the funeral costs from the estate
- List loans, bills and money owed to family
- Ask a scholar about any unpaid zakat
- Check papers at home, email, and with any attorney
- Confirm the funeral home reported the death to Social Security
- Ask about survivor benefits
- Secure the house and car, and keep the phone line active for sign-in codes
In the months after
- Open probate if the estate needs it
- Close accounts and cancel subscriptions
- Pay any bequest, up to one third, to people who are not heirs
- Divide the rest by the fixed shares
- Bring food and help with the household
- Help the widow with errands and appointments
- Make duʿā for the one who has died
For everyone who loved me
Pray for me
اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لَهُ وَارْحَمْهُ وَعَافِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنْهُ وَأَكْرِمْ نُزُلَهُ وَوَسِّعْ مُدْخَلَهُ وَاغْسِلْهُ بِالْمَاءِ وَالثَّلْجِ وَالْبَرَدِ وَنَقِّهِ مِنَ الْخَطَايَا كَمَا نَقَّيْتَ الثَّوْبَ الأَبْيَضَ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ وَأَبْدِلْهُ دَارًا خَيْرًا مِنْ دَارِهِ وَأَهْلاً خَيْرًا مِنْ أَهْلِهِ وَزَوْجًا خَيْرًا مِنْ زَوْجِهِ وَأَدْخِلْهُ الْجَنَّةَ وَأَعِذْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ أَوْ مِنْ عَذَابِ النَّارِ
O Allah! forgive him, have mercy upon him, give him peace and absolve him. Receive him with honour and make his grave spacious; wash him with water, snow and hail. Cleanse him from faults as Thou wouldst cleanse a white garment from impurity. Requite him with an abode more excellent than his abode, with a family better than his family, and with a mate better than his mate. Admit him to the Garden, and protect him from the torment of the grave and the torment of the Fire.
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 963
Give charity on my behalf, keep the family ties I kept, and remember me in your duʿāʾ.
Once a year
Record of reviews
Read this book through once a year, perhaps in Ramadan. Update what has changed, then sign below.
| Date | What I changed | Signed |
|---|---|---|
Anything else
Notes
“I am not in this world except as a rider who seeks shade under a tree, then moves on and leaves it.”
The Prophet ﷺ · Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī 2377 (ṣaḥīḥ)
Life Is Temporary
Free guides for Muslim families in America: what to do when someone dies, the janazah prayer, the shares, and a directory of Muslim funeral services.
lifeistemporary.com
Every ruling in this book is sourced at lifeistemporary.com/sources. This book records wishes and is not a legal will.