Dictations to a Dying Person

“Abu ’Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that when one is about to die, before he dies, you should dictate to him the two testimonies: ‘No one, other than Allah who has no partners, deserves to be worshipped and Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that you should dictate to your dying people, ‘Only Allah is the Lord to be worshipped.’ We, however, (in addition) dictate to our dying people, ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.’”

“Abu Ja’far (a.s.), has said, ‘If you find a man in dying condition, dictate to him the relieving words: ‘Allah, the Most Forbearing, the Most Honorable, is the only Lord who must be worshipped. Allah, the Most High, the Most Great, is the only Lord who must be worshipped. It is Allah, Lord of seven heavens and seven earths, all that is between them and beneath them, Lord of the great Throne who is free of all defects, and it is only Allah, Lord of the worlds who deserves all praise.’ Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), then said, ‘Had you met ‘Ikrimah in his dying condition you could have benefited him.’ He was asked, ‘In what way he could benefit him?’ The Imam replied, ‘By dictating to him the matters of your belief.’”

“A man from my family fell ill and I went to visit him and told him, ‘Son of my brother, I have an advice for you and I hope you accept it.’ He said, ‘I accept it.’ I then asked him to say, ‘It is only Allah who must be worshipped and He has no partner.’ He then testified to this fact. I then said, ‘This will not be of any benefit unless you are certain about it.’ He said that he is certain about it. I then asked him to say, ‘I testify that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.’ He then testified to this fact also. I then said that this would not benefit you unless you are certain about it. He said that he is certain about it. I then asked him to say, ‘I testify that Ali is the executor of the will of the Messenger of Allah, his successor and the Imam who after the Messenger of Allah must be obeyed.’ He testified to such facts. I then said that this would not benefit you unless you are certain about it. He said that he was certain about it. I then mentioned all ’A’immah one by one. He testified and said that he is certain about them. Not very long thereafter, he passed away. His family began to cry intensely and mourn for him. I then left them and after a while visited, offered them my condolences, inquired as how they have been and asked the woman (of the house) how she was. She said, ‘His death was a great loss for us and very difficult to bear - may Allah grant him mercy - of things that provided relief for me was that one night I saw a dream.’ I then asked, ‘What did you see in your dream?’ She said, ‘I saw him - the deceased - living and sound. I asked him, “Did you not die?” He replied, ‘Yes, I died but I was saved by the words that abu Bakr dictated to me. Were it not for those words I would have (most certainly) been destroyed.””

“Humran and we were present before abu Ja’far (a.s.), when a servant came in. He said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, ‘Ikrimah is in dying condition and he believes in the point of view of the al-Khawarij. However, he is (also) inclined to abu Ja‘far (a.s.) .’ The Imam then said to us, ’Wait until I return to you.’ We agreed and after a while the Imam returned and said, ’Had I met ‘Ikrimah before the soul reached where it was to reach, I could have taught him the words that would have benefitted him but I met him when the soul had already reached where it was to reach.’ I then asked, ’May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, what are those words?’ The Imam said, ’They, by Allah, are the (testimonies) of your belief. You must dictate to those in dying condition the testimony, “It is Allah alone who must be worshipped, and al-Walayah” (belief in the fact that ’A’immah possess Divine Authority).”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that at the time of everyone’s death, Satan assigns one of his devils to urge the dying person to disbelief and tries to make him doubt his religion until the time his soul departs. The devil is not able to control a believing person. When you find one of you in dying condition you should dictate him the testimony of belief, ‘It is only Allah who must be worshipped, and that Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger’ until he passes away.’” In another Hadith it states, ‘The Imam said, “You should dictate to him the words of relief, the two testimonies and explain to him to profess the Divine Authority of ’A’immah one by one until he passes away.’””

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that when ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), would find any member of his family in dying condition, he would ask him to say, ‘It is Allah, the Most High, the Most Great, alone who must be worshipped. It is Allah, Lord of seven heavens and the Lord of seven earths, all that is between them and the Lord of the great Throne who is free of all defects. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds.’ Upon the patient’s saying this, he (the Imam) then would say, ‘Go on. You do not have to worry about anything.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘By Allah, even if a worshipper of an idol, in his dying condition, says what you say, fire will never consume anything from his body.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah once visited a man from the tribe of Hashim in his dying condition. The Messenger of Allah told him to say, ‘Allah, the Most Forbearing, the Most Honorable, is the only Lord who must be worshipped, Allah, the Most High, the Most Great is the only Lord who must be worshipped. It is Allah, Lord of seven heavens and seven earths, all that is between them and beneath them, Lord of the great Throne who is free of all defects, and it is only Allah, Lord of the worlds who deserves all praise.’ He said those words. The Messenger of Allah then said, ‘All praise belongs to Allah who saved him from the fire.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that a man was in a dying condition and the Messenger of Allah was informed about it. The Messenger of Allah decided to visit him along with a group of his companions and they found him fainted. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘O angel of death, do not do anything to him; I want to ask him a question.’ The man regained consciousness and the Holy Prophet asked, ‘What did you see?’ He replied, ‘I saw a great deal of white things and a great deal of black things.’ The Holy Prophet asked, ‘Which kind was closer?’ He replied, ‘The black things were closer.’ The Holy Prophet asked him to say, ‘O Allah, forgive me for the great deal of my disobedience to You and accept from me the small amount of good deeds of obedience to You.’ The man then fainted again. The Holy Prophet said, ‘O angel of death, relieve him so I can ask him a question.’ The man gained consciousness again. The Holy Prophet asked, ‘What did you see?’ He replied, ‘I saw a great deal of white things and great deal of black things.’ The Holy Prophet asked, ‘Which kind was closer?’ He replied, ‘The white kind was closer.’ The Messenger of Allah then said to his companions, ‘Allah has granted forgiveness to your friend.’ The narrator has said that abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘If you find a person in dying condition tell him to say the above words.’”