941/1 - Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Hasten with the funeral, for if it is righteous, you will be taking it forward to what is good; and if it is otherwise, you will be laying evil off your necks.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
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1) It is Sunnah to be quick in preparing the funeral and burying the deceased.
2) Delay in preparing the dead person for burial is an act of injustice against him, for this holds him back from the bliss Allah Almighty has prepared for him.
3) It is recommended to use euphemism instead of directly saying unpleasant words. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said “and if it is otherwise” instead of saying “and if it is evil”. This is part of the Prophet’s noble manners. All goodness lies in following his guidance.
In contradiction to this Hadīth, some people, when a person dies, wait for his relatives to come from far and wide to attend the funeral, which may take one or two days. This is an act of injustice against the dead person and disobedience to the Prophet’s command to hasten with the funeral, which is kinder to the deceased and his family.
942/2 - Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: “When a dead body is placed on a bier and the men carry it on their shoulders, if the deceased was righteous, it will say: ‘Send me forward, send me forward,’ but if it was not righteous, it will say: ‘Woe to it, where are you taking it?’ Everything hears its voice, except humans. If they were to hear it, they would fall unconscious.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri]
1) It is one of the favors of Allah Almighty that He kept hidden from His servants the conditions in the grave, whether it is bliss or torture. If they knew it, they would never bury one another.
2) Muslims are required to believe in the unseen, including the information told by the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), which our minds would not absorb properly. Let none say: How would the funeral say: “Send me forward” and “woe to it, where are you taking it?”