What to Do at Someone’s Deathbed
Imam Sadiq (AS) said that when someone is dying, Iblis (Satan) tells his companions to go to the dying person and lead him toward Kufr and disbelief, so when you see someone is dying, instruct him to repeatedly say La Ilaha Illa Allah and Muhammad Rasulallah (Muhammad is the messenger of God) until he dies.
In other Hadiths, instructing the dying person to bear witness to the imamate of the Infallible Imams (AS) has also been stressed.
Of course, repeating these phrases should be based on one’s beliefs and we should instruct the dying person to repeat them based on our love for him or her.
A prayer that credible books and Risalah Amaliyahs (books containing a collection of rulings about daily practices) have recommended to be recited at person’s deathbed is this: “God forgive me for my many sins and accept my little obedience. O the one who accepts little and forgives many wrongdoings! Accept my little obedience and forgive my many wrongdoings. You are forgiving and compassionate. Have mercy on me because You are merciful.”
At the time of the Prophet (PBUH), there was a young man who was at his deathbed. The messenger of God was told about his condition. The Prophet went to him and found him in the agony of death. He asked him to say “La illaha illa Allah,” but his tongue was unable to pronounce it. The Prophet (PBUH) asked, “Is his mother alive?” A woman said she was his mother. The Prophet (PBUH) said: Are you satisfied with him? She said: No I am angry with him because he has disobeyed me. The Prophet said: I would like you to be reconciled with him (so that he would be saved from fire of hell). The woman agreed and then when the Prophet (PBUH) instructed the man to say the phrase “La illaha illa Allah,” he managed to do it.
It is Wajib (obligatory) to lay someone who is dying on his back so that his feet will be toward Mecca. It is recommended that he be instructed to repeat the Shahadah and belief in Tawheed, prophethood, Imamate and Resurrection Day.
It is also recommended that the dying person be taken to a place where he usually says prayers. Those at someone’s death bed should not talk a lot but should recite the Quran as much as they can, especially Surahs Yasin, Saffat and Al-Ahzab as well as Ayat al-Kursi.
