Muslim Festivals and Ceremonies — Page 57
Funeral Prayer is a Collective Obligation (Fardh Kifaya) of the. Muslim community, which means that if a few members of the community conduct the funeral service, they are deemed to have fulfilled the obligation on behalf of the whole community. The object of the funeral prayer in Islam is to seek God's forgiveness and His mercy for the dead. The Muslims are therefore encouraged to participate in the funeral service. Ayesha, the wife of the Holy. Prophet relates that the Holy Prophet said: 'If as many as one hundred Muslims should participate in the funeral service of a dead person, all of them interceding for him, their intercession would be granted. ' (Muslim). Though, as a general rule, the corpse is placed in front of the congregation for funeral service, yet in certain cases it is also permissible to offer funeral Prayer even without the corpse. This is called JANAZA GHAIB i. e. the funeral service without the corpse being laid in front of the Imam, who leads the Prayer service. . The situation gives a chance to the relatives, friends and acquaintances of the deceased who are living far away, and therefore could not be physically present at the service, to conduct the service at their own places and pray for the deceased. . It should be remembered, however, that the Janaza Ghaib can only be perfomed after the burial and not before. . This provision also covers the cases where it is impossible to obtain the dead body for burial e. g. : drowning or fire incidents. كُل مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَانٍ . ويبقى وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ نُفَالجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ . . Translation: 'All that is on the earth will perish, and only that will survive which is under the care of thy Lord, Master of Glory and Honour. ' (55:27 & 28) 57