PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD

There are also prayers for the dead and the dying.  The dying must be treated to a bit of theology.  �Exhort to recite, �There is no god but Allah,� to those who are dying,� says the Prophet (1996).

When you visit the sick or the dead, supplicate for good, because �angels may say amen to whatever you say.� Umm Salama tells us: �When AbU Salama died, I went to the Apostle of Allah and said: Messenger of Allah, AbU Salama has died.  He told me to recite: �O Allah! forgive me and him [AbU Salama] and give me a better substitute than he.� So I said this, and Allah gave me in exchange Muhammad, who is better for me than him [AbU Salama]� (2002).

Umm Salama was the widow of AbU Salama, to whom she had borne many children.  He died at Uhud, and Muhammad married her four months later.

author: ram swarup