رياض الصالحينAbū Zakariyyā Muḥyī al-Dīn Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī١٥٧ - باب ما يقرأ في صلاة الجنازة
He says four takbīrs. After the first he seeks refuge in Allah, then he recites the Opening of the Book (al-Fātiḥah), then he says the second takbīr, then he invokes blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, saying: ‘O Allah, send blessings upon Muḥammad and upon the family of Muḥammad.’ It is most preferable that he complete it with his words: ‘As You sent blessings upon Ibrāhīm’ — up to His words — ‘indeed You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.’
He does not say what many of the common people do in their recitation:
Indeed, Allāh confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allāh to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allāh to grant him] peace.
…the verse — for his prayer is not valid if he limits himself to it alone. Then he says the third takbīr and supplicates for the deceased and for the Muslims with what we shall mention from the hadiths, if Allah the Exalted wills. Then he says the fourth takbīr and supplicates. Among the best of it is: ‘O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward, do not put us to trial after him, and forgive us and him.’
The preferred view is that he should prolong the supplication in the fourth takbīr, contrary to what most people are accustomed to do, on account of the hadith of Ibn Abī Awfā which we shall mention, if Allah the Exalted wills.
As for the supplications transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ after the third takbīr, among them is:
On the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAwf ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed over a deceased person, and I memorised part of his supplication as he said: ‘O Allah, forgive him and have mercy upon him, grant him well-being and pardon him, honour his resting place and make spacious his place of entry. Wash him with water, snow and hail, and cleanse him of sins as a white garment is cleansed of dirt. Give him in exchange a home better than his home, a family better than his family, and a spouse better than his spouse; admit him into Paradise, and protect him from the punishment of the grave and from the punishment of the Fire.’ — until I wished that I were that deceased person. Narrated by Muslim.
On the authority of Abū Hurayrah, Abū Qatādah, and Abū Ibrāhīm al-Ashhalī — from his father, and his father was a Companion (may Allah be pleased with them) — from the Prophet ﷺ: that he prayed over a deceased person and said: ‘O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, our young and our old, our males and our females, those of us present and those absent. O Allah, whomever of us You keep alive, keep him alive upon Islam, and whomever of us You take in death, take him in death upon faith. O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward, and do not put us to trial after him.’ Narrated by al-Tirmidhī from the report of Abū Hurayrah and al-Ashhalī. Abū Dāwūd also narrated it from the report of Abū Hurayrah and Abū Qatādah. Al-Ḥākim said: ‘The hadith of Abū Hurayrah is sound according to the conditions of al-Bukhārī and Muslim.’ Al-Tirmidhī said: ‘Al-Bukhārī said: The soundest of the narrations of this hadith is the narration of al-Ashhalī.’ Al-Bukhārī said: ‘And the soundest thing in this chapter is the hadith of ʿAwf ibn Mālik.’
On the authority of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘When you pray over the deceased, make the supplication for him sincere.’ Narrated by Abū Dāwūd.
And on his authority, from the Prophet ﷺ, concerning the prayer over the deceased: ‘O Allah, You are its Lord, You created it, You guided it to Islam, and You took its soul. You know best its secret and its open state. We have come to You as intercessors for him, so forgive him.’ Narrated by Abū Dāwūd.
On the authority of Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in prayer over a man from among the Muslims, and I heard him say: ‘O Allah, so-and-so the son of so-and-so is in Your care and the rope of Your protection, so guard him from the trial of the grave and the punishment of the Fire, for You are worthy of fulfilment and praise. O Allah, forgive him and have mercy upon him; indeed You are the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’ Narrated by Abū Dāwūd.
On the authority of ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Awfā (may Allah be pleased with them both): that he said four takbīrs over the funeral of a daughter of his, and after the fourth he stood for about the length of time between two takbīrs, seeking forgiveness for her and supplicating. Then he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to do thus. In another narration: He said four takbīrs and then paused for a while, until I thought he would say a fifth. Then he gave the salām to his right and to his left. When he had finished, we said to him: What is this? He said: I will not add for you anything beyond what I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do — or: Thus did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do. Narrated by al-Ḥākim, who said: ‘A sound hadith.’