Chapter on Guiding the Dying, Positioning Them at Death, Procedures for Their Final Moments, Washing Them, and Placing Them in Shrouds

Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām|Volume 1|Book 1|Chapter 13

Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām

Book 1, Chapter 13

Chapter on Guiding the Dying, Positioning Them at Death, Procedures for Their Final Moments, Washing Them, and Placing Them in Shrouds

Hadith #5

وَ بِهَذَا اَلْإِسْنَادِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يَعْقُوبَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ اَلْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ عَنِ اَلنَّضْرِ بْنِ سُوَيْدٍ عَنْ دَاوُدَ بْنِ سُلَيْمَانَ اَلْكُوفِيِّ عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرٍ اَلْحَضْرَمِيِّ قَالَ: مَرِضَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ بَيْتِي فَأَتَيْتُهُ عَائِداً لَهُ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ يَا اِبْنَ أَخِي إِنَّ لَكَ عِنْدِي نَصِيحَةً أَ تَقْبَلُهَا فَقَالَ نَعَمْ فَقُلْتُ قُلْ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اَللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ فَشَهِدَ بِذَلِكَ فَقُلْتُ وَ قُلْ وَ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً رَسُولُ اَللَّهِ فَشَهِدَ بِذَلِكَ فَقُلْتُ إِنَّ هَذَا لاَ تَنْتَفِعُ بِهِ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ مِنْكَ عَلَى يَقِينٍ فَذَكَرَ أَنَّهُ مِنْهُ عَلَى يَقِينٍ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ قُلْ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ عَلِيّاً وَصِيُّهُ وَهُوَ اَلْخَلِيفَةُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَاَلْإِمَامُ اَلْمُفْتَرَضُ اَلطَّاعَةِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ فَشَهِدَ بِذَلِكَ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ إِنَّكَ لَنْ تَنْتَفِعَ بِذَلِكَ حَتَّى يَكُونَ مِنْكَ عَلَى يَقِينٍ فَذَكَرَ أَنَّهُ مِنْهُ عَلَى يَقِينٍ ثُمَّ سَمَّيْتُ لَهُ اَلْأَئِمَّةَ عَلَيهِمُ اَلسَّلاَمُ وَاحِداً بَعْدَ وَاحِدٍ فَأَقَرَّ بِذَلِكَ وَ ذَكَر أَنَّهُ عَلَى يَقِينٍ فَلَمْ يَلْبَثِ اَلرَّجُلُ أَنْ تُوُفِّيَ فَجَزِعَ أَهْلُهُ عَلَيْهِ جَزَعاً شَدِيداً قَالَ فَغِبْتُ عَنْهُمْ ثُمَّ أَتَيْتُهُمْ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَرَأَيْتُ عَزَاءً حَسَناً فَقُلْتُ كَيْفَ تَجِدُونَكُمْ كَيْفَ عَزَاؤُكِ أَيَّتُهَا اَلْمَرْأَةُ فَقَالَتْ وَ اَللَّهِ لَقَدْ أُصِبْنَا بِمُصِيبَةٍ عَظِيمَةٍ بِوَفَاةِ فُلاَنٍ رَحِمَهُ اَللَّهُ وَ كَانَ مِمَّا سَخِيَ بِنَفْسِي لَهُ لِرُؤْيَا رَأَيْتُهَا اَللَّيْلَةَ فَقُلْتُ وَ مَا تِلْكِ اَلرُّؤْيَا قَالَتْ رَأَيْتُ فُلاَناً تَعْنِي اَلْمَيِّتَ حَيّاً سَلِيماً فَقُلْتُ فُلاَناً قَالَ نَعَمْ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ أَ كُنْتَ مَيِّتاً فَقَالَ بَلَى وَ لَكِنْ نَجَوْتُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ لَقَّنِّيهِنَّ أَبُو بَكْرٍ وَ لَوْلاَ ذَلِكِ كِدْتُ أَهْلِكُ.

And through this chain of transmission, from Muhammad bin Ya’qub, from Muhammad bin Yahya, from Ahmad bin Muhammad, from Al-Husayn bin Sa’id, from Al-Nadr bin Suwayd, from Dawud bin Sulayman Al-Kufi, from Abu Bakr Al-Hadrami, who said: A man from my family fell ill, so I went to visit him. I said to him: "O my nephew, I have some advice for you. Will you accept it?" He said: "Yes." I said: "Say: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah , alone with no partner." He testified to that. I said: "And say: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah ." He testified to that. I said: "This will not benefit you unless it is from you with certainty." He stated that he had certainty about it. Then I said to him: "Say: I bear witness that Ali is his successor, the caliph after him, and the Imam whose obedience is obligatory after him." He testified to that. I said: "You will not benefit from this unless it is from you with certainty." He stated that he had certainty about it. Then I mentioned the names of the Imams one after another, and he affirmed them and stated that he had certainty about them. Not long after that, the man passed away. His family grieved for him intensely. Later, I visited them and saw that they had found solace. I said to his wife: "How are you coping, O woman?" She said: "By Allah , we have suffered a great loss with the death of so-and-so -may Allah have mercy on him. But what eased my sorrow for him was a dream I saw last night." I said: "What was the dream?" She said: "I saw so-and-so," - referring to the deceased - "alive and well." I asked him: "So-and-so, weren’t you dead?" He said: "Yes, but I was saved by the words Abu Bakr taught me. Were it not for them, I would have perished."

Ali Akbar al-Ghaffari
Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām fī Sharḥ al-Muqniʿah, vol. 1, p. 303