Now, it is said that on the death of a person, only the Surah Yasin is recited. In fact, there is no root which authenticates this practice in the tradition of the Holy Prophet. I mean, there is no root known to me in the traditions of the Holy Prophet which authenticates or gives bona fides to this common practice of today. To my knowledge, not a single companion of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, offered Surah Yasin or Surah Fatiha at the death of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Nor did that happen at the death of the first caliph, or the second, or the third, or the fourth one.
In the known preserved history of the early period of Islam, when the companions of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, died differently, variously, I don’t know of a single tradition which tells us that either Surah Fatiha was recited or Surah Yasin was recited. So it was a practice which got introduced into Islam later on. So there is no question of only either, because it is not Surah Yasin alone, Surah Fatiha is more often recited than Surah Yasin.
But with the difference that Surah Yasin is preferred to be recited during the last moments of a patient, before he is dead. It may continue to be recited for a while after his death as well, but most often it is recited during the period of his throes of death, the last moments. It has certain significance, and I think particularly the part, salamun qawlam mir rabbir raheem, that is very effective to people who think their appointed hour has arrived, they want to die at this moment, at the moment when this verse is recited. This is a general wish of the people. And I remember that this practice was not discouraged by Hazrat Musleh Maud.
So you better write to Rabwah, to Hafiz Muzaffar MSR, to make further investigations when this got started, and whether it has some reference in Hadith about the qualities of Surah Yasin and its relationship to a patient or a dying man. Although this is not the practice known to us during the time of Huzoor, but maybe it has some root. Is that a tradition? But this is not what happened at the time of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa S.A.W.’s death, nor at the death of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique R.A., nor any other companion. We don’t know that this was recited.
But maybe I don’t know, maybe there are certain traditions which speak of it, because if this did not have any root whatsoever, it could not have been a practice in Ahmadis as well. Because in Ahmadis we are very particular that only such practices and religious rites are preserved and kept alive, which have their roots and sound footings in traditions of the Holy Prophet.
So there must be something in it, because I remember Hazrat Musleh Maud was present during the last hour of Hazrat Mir Muhammad Ishaq S.A.W. And I was also present there, and I was told by some elder to recite Surah Yasin, and some others were also reciting, and I remember having recited Surah Yasin, particularly it got impressed on my mind because when I reached that particular verse, exactly at that moment he breathed his last.
So because this happened, I remember it so clearly, it got stamped on my memory that this was the last moment of Hazrat Mir Muhammad Ishaq S.A.W. So what I am inferring is that had it not had any roots in traditions somehow, if not in practice, in spoken word I mean, it couldn’t have been tolerated by Hazrat Musleh Maud. And at the time of the death of Hazrat Musleh Maud S.A.W., again I was reciting this Surah myself. So it is a valid practice, that is of course understandable.
