Burial Night: Difference between revisions

'''Laylat al-dafn''' (Arabic:{{ia|لَیلَةُ الدَّفن}}) or the first night in [[grave]] is the first night after the burial of a deceased person. In [[Islam|Islamic]] culture, this night, its characteristics and events have been extensively discussed. According to [[hadiths]], the first night after burial is an important night for the person passed away and has different stages. Among its important events are meeting different [[angels]], questioning the person and receiving his answers and the pressure of the grave. Some actions such as the [[prayer]] of Laylat al-dafn can help the deceased person to pass these events. The first night in grave is beautiful and relaxing for [[believers]] and very harsh and dreadful for [[disbelievers]] and wrongdoers.

There is an especial relation between the grave in Barzakh and the grave in this world, i.e. there is a relation between the soul in Barzakh and the material body in the grave. It comes originally from the relation between the soul and the material body which have a kind of unity during the life in this world. With death, this relation does not completely break, but a weak relation between the soul in Barzakh and the material body remains. Thus, the material grave is related with the grave in Barzakh and the soul which is present in a supernatural world is attentive toward the material body and the place where it is buried. It is because of this relation between the material grave and the grave in Barzakh that there are certain rulings about the material grave, funeral, shrouding, burial, respecting graves, recommendation of visiting graves, making supplication and asking for forgiveness upon graves and as such in Islam.

Abu Basir asked Imam al-Sadiq (a) if a person would be relieved of the pressure of the grave. Imam (a) answered, "the refuge of God is to be sought for the pressure of the grave, for how few people would be relieved of the pressure of the grave."

In hadiths, it is recommended that people perform the prayer of Laylat al-dafn for the deceased person at the first night after his burial. It is known among people as Namaz-e Wahshat and is recommended to be performed in either way below:

# To perform a two-rak’a prayer, on the first rak’a of which, after reciting sura al-Fatiha, Ayat al-Kursi should be recited once and in the second rak’a, after reciting sura al-Fatiha, sura al-Qadr should be recited ten times and after saying Salam, the following phrase should be recited: "Allah-umm-a sall-i ‘ala Muhammad-in wa al-i Muhammad, wa-b’ath thawab-aha ila qabr-i such", but instead of "such", the name of the deceased person should be mentioned.

# To perform a two-rak’a prayer, on the first rak’a of which, after reciting sura al-Fatiha, sura al-Tawhid should be recited twice and on the second rak’a, after reciting sura al-Fatiha, sura al-Takathur should be recited and after the prayer, the following phrase should be recited: "Allah-umm-a sall-i ‘ala Muhammad-in wa al-i Muhammad, wa-b’ath thawab-aha ila qabr-i such", but instead of "such", the name of the deceased person should be mentioned.

This prayer is recommended to be performed after burial, even if there are some days of delay between the death and the burial. It is to be performed since the beginning of the night until fajr, but it is better to be performed at the beginning of the night after ‘Isha prayer.