The funeral ceremony (janazah) as a significant practice in Islam: HSC Studies of Religion

What this dot point is asking

The Islam depth study asks you to choose ONE significant practice from Friday prayer at the mosque, funeral ceremony, Hajj, and to:

1. Describe the practice.
2. Demonstrate how it expresses the beliefs of Islam.
3. Analyse its significance for both the individual and the Muslim community.

This page covers the funeral ceremony, often called by the name of its central prayer, the janazah (Salat al-Janazah). It is an excellent choice because every step is prescribed by the Qur'an and the Sunnah, so each action can be linked to a specific belief and a specific source. The funeral ceremony has been an option in the practice question every year from 2023 to 2025.

Write about death and mourning with care and respect. Describe the rites as Muslims understand them, and note where Sunni and Shi'a practice, or local custom, differ.

The answer

Death in Islamic belief

Muslims believe that life and death belong to Allah: "Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection" (Qur'an 3:185). The time of death is set by Allah: "it is not [possible] for one to die except by permission of Allah at a decree determined" (3:145). Allah "created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed" (67:2).

Death is not an end but a passage. The soul enters barzakh, the barrier between this life and the next: "behind them is a barrier until the Day they are resurrected" (23:100). According to hadith, the deceased is questioned in the grave by two angels, Munkar and Nakir, about their Lord and the Prophet (Tirmidhi 1071). On the Day of Resurrection all will be raised and judged. The funeral ceremony is shaped by these beliefs at every stage.

The funeral ceremony step by step

1. At the time of death

• The shahadah. Those with a dying person encourage them to say the declaration of faith: "Exhort to recite 'There is no god but Allah' to those of you who are dying" (Sahih Muslim 916). Many families also recite the Qur'an, especially Surah Ya-Sin; this custom rests on a hadith in Abu Dawud (3121) that many scholars grade as weak, but it is widely practised.
• Facing the qiblah. Where possible, the dying person is turned to face Makkah.
• After death. The eyes are closed, the jaw is gently bound, the limbs are straightened and the body is covered. Those present say "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un": "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return" (Qur'an 2:156), and pray for the deceased.

2. Ghusl: washing the body

The body is washed by adult Muslims of the same sex (a spouse may wash a spouse), with care for the person's privacy and dignity. The Prophet instructed the women washing his daughter: "Wash her thrice or five times or more, if you see it necessary, with water and Sidr [lote-tree leaves] and then apply camphor or some camphor at the end" (Bukhari 1253), and to "start with the right side, and the parts which are washed in ablution" (Bukhari 1255). A martyr killed in battle is an exception: the martyrs of Uhud were buried "with their blood on their bodies" and "were neither washed nor was a funeral prayer offered for them" (Bukhari 1343), although the schools of law differ on whether the prayer is said for martyrs.

3. Kafan: shrouding

The body is wrapped in plain, clean white cloth. The Prophet "was shrouded in three Yemenite white Suhuliya (pieces of cloth) of cotton, and in them there was neither a shirt nor a turban" (Bukhari 1264). Men are usually shrouded in three sheets and women, in most schools, in five pieces. The shroud is the same for rich and poor.

4. Salat al-Janazah: the funeral prayer

• A communal obligation. The funeral prayer is fard kifayah: an obligation on the community as a whole, fulfilled when some members perform it.
• Form. It is prayed standing, in rows, usually at the mosque or a prayer ground, with the body placed in front of the imam. There is no bowing (ruku) or prostration (sujud), and no call to prayer. For a woman the imam stands by the middle of the body, as the Prophet did (Bukhari 1331); for a man, the schools differ (level with the head or the chest).
• Four takbirs. The Prophet announced the death of the Negus of Abyssinia and "said four Takbirs (i.e. offered the Funeral prayer)" (Bukhari 1245). In common Sunni practice: after the first takbir, Surah al-Fatihah; after the second, blessings on the Prophet (salawat); after the third, supplication (du'a) for the deceased's forgiveness and mercy; after the fourth, a short supplication, followed by the taslim (greeting of peace).
• Shi'a practice. In Shi'a (Ja'fari) practice the funeral prayer has five takbirs.

5. The procession

The Prophet said: "Hurry up with the dead body for if it was righteous, you are forwarding it to welfare" (Bukhari 1315). The bier is carried on the shoulders of mourners, who take turns. Following a funeral is one of the five rights a Muslim has over another (Bukhari 1240), and the reward is great: "Whoever attends the funeral procession till he offers the funeral prayer for it, will get a reward equal to one Qirat, and whoever accompanies it till burial, will get a reward equal to two Qirats ... Like two huge mountains" (Bukhari 1325).

6. Burial (dafn)

• Promptly and in the earth. Burial takes place as soon as possible, ideally within a day. Cremation is not permitted: the body is honoured even after death, and the Prophet said, "Breaking a dead man's bone is like breaking it when he is alive" (Abu Dawud 3207).
• Facing the qiblah. The body is laid in the grave on its right side facing Makkah, often in a niche (lahd) cut into the qiblah side of the grave. Those placing it say, "In the name of Allah, and following the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah" (Abu Dawud 3213).
• Soil. Mourners add handfuls of earth; many recite "From the earth We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will extract you another time" (Qur'an 20:55).
• Simple graves. Graves are kept simple, and Muslims are taught not to sit on graves or pray towards them (Sahih Muslim 972).
• Prayer at the graveside. After burial the Prophet would stand at the grave and say: "Seek forgiveness for your brother, and beg steadfastness for him, for he will be questioned now" (Abu Dawud 3221).
• In Australia. Muslim communities (3.2% of Australians at the 2021 Census) work with cemetery trusts and health authorities, for example through Muslim sections in public cemeteries and mosque-based funeral services, so that washing, prayer and burial facing the qiblah can take place promptly within Australian regulations.

7. Mourning

• Grief is natural. When his infant son Ibrahim was dying, the Prophet wept and said, "The eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved, and we will not say except what pleases our Lord" (Bukhari 1303).
• Within limits. Excessive displays are forbidden: "He who slaps his cheeks, tears his clothes and follows the ways and traditions of the Days of Ignorance is not one of us" (Bukhari 1294). "The real patience is at the first stroke of a calamity" (Bukhari 1302).
• Periods. Mourning lasts three days, except for a widow, who mourns "for four months and ten days" (Bukhari 1280), the 'iddah set in Qur'an 2:234.
• Care for the bereaved. Relatives and neighbours visit to offer condolence (ta'ziyah) and bring food: "Prepare food for the family of Ja'far for there came upon them an incident which has engaged them" (Abu Dawud 3132).
• Continuing bonds. Muslims may visit graves ("I forbade you to visit graves, but you may now visit them", Sahih Muslim 977), pray for the deceased and give charity on their behalf. Some communities hold gatherings on particular days after a death (for example the fortieth day); these are cultural customs, and some scholars discourage them as additions to the Sunnah.

How the funeral ceremony expresses the beliefs of Islam

Significance for the individual

• For the dying and the deceased. Dying with the shahadah on one's lips, being purified, prayed over by the community and buried according to the Sunnah prepares the believer for barzakh and judgement. Their good deeds can continue: "When a man dies, his acts come to an end, but three, recurring charity, or knowledge (by which people) benefit, or a pious son, who prays for him" (Sahih Muslim 1631).
• For the bereaved. The rites give grief a shape. Saying 2:156, the permission to weep, the limits on wailing and the set mourning periods help mourners accept Allah's decree with patience while their loss is honoured. The belief in resurrection gives hope of reunion.
• For every participant. Washing, praying over and burying another person confronts each Muslim with their own death and accountability. The Prophet said, "Increase in remembrance of the severer of pleasures", meaning death (Tirmidhi 2307). Attending also brings great reward (Bukhari 1325).

Significance for the Muslim community

• Shared obligation. Because the janazah is fard kifayah, the community as a whole is responsible for it. Mosques often maintain washing facilities, trained volunteers and funeral services, and news of a death is spread so that many can pray.
• Solidarity and rights. Following the funeral is a right Muslims owe one another (Bukhari 1240). Large funeral prayers, sometimes attended by people who did not know the deceased, express the brotherhood and sisterhood of the ummah.
• Care for the bereaved. The duty to bring food and offer condolence (Abu Dawud 3132) mobilises neighbours and extended family.
• Equality and identity. The same shroud and the same prayer for every Muslim, rich or poor, is a visible sign of equality before Allah. In a minority setting such as Australia, maintaining these rites is an important expression of religious identity and continuity across generations.
• Diversity within unity. Sunni and Shi'a Muslims share the core rites while differing in details (for example the number of takbirs), and cultural customs vary by community.

Evaluating the practice

• Strength. The rite is simple, egalitarian and grounded in explicit sources, so its meaning is clear to participants.
• Challenge. Prompt burial can be difficult where a coroner's investigation is required or cemetery regulations apply; communities negotiate these while keeping the essentials of the Sunnah.
• Balance. The funeral is not only about the dead. Its emphasis on remembrance of death, prayer and communal duty is aimed at the living, turning a moment of loss into a renewal of faith.

In one sentence

The Islamic funeral ceremony, from the shahadah at death through ghusl, kafan, Salat al-Janazah and prompt burial facing the qiblah to limited mourning, follows the Sunnah step by step and expresses Tawhid, Qadar, the Akhirah and the equality of the ummah, preparing the deceased, comforting and disciplining the grief of the bereaved and binding the community through shared obligation.

Try this

Q1. Identify TWO features of Salat al-Janazah. (2 marks)

• What the marker wants. Any two of: prayed standing without bowing or prostration; four takbirs (Sunni) with al-Fatihah, salawat and du'a for the deceased; fard kifayah; body placed before the imam.

Q2. Explain how the funeral ceremony expresses the equality of the ummah. (4 marks)

• What the marker wants. Identical white shrouds (Bukhari 1264), the same prayer and simple grave for all, Qur'an 49:13, and fard kifayah as a shared duty.

Q3. Analyse the significance of the funeral ceremony for the bereaved. (5 marks)

• What the marker wants. Qur'an 2:156, sabr (Bukhari 1302), tears permitted (Bukhari 1303) and wailing forbidden (Bukhari 1294), set mourning periods, community support (Abu Dawud 3132), hope of resurrection, with a judgement.