Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a man was circumambulating the House of Allah and saying in his supplication: "Awwah, awwah" (sighs of lament). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, he is one who greatly beseeches with sighs and humility (awwah)." Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: One night I went out and saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the graveyard, burying that man with a lamp in hand.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that one day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon and mentioned one of his Companions who had passed away and had been buried in a shroud that was poor (of inferior quality), and he had been buried at night. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sternly forbade that a man be buried at night until the funeral prayer has been offered over him, unless a person is compelled to do so. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When one of you shrouds his brother, let him give him a good shroud." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it; and it has a corroborating report (shahid) narrated by Wahb bin Munabbih from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him).

Wahb bin Munabbih narrates: These are the questions that I asked Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), and he informed me that: One day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon and mentioned one of his Companions who had passed away; he was given a poor (inferior) shroud and was buried at night. At this the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sternly forbade that a man be buried at night without the funeral prayer being offered over him (properly), unless a person is compelled to do so. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When one of you becomes the guardian (the one responsible) for his brother, let him give him a good shroud."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said to Abu al-Hayyaj: "Shall I not send you on the mission on which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me? That you leave no statue without effacing it, and no raised grave without levelling it (with the ground)." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. I think the reason for this is the discrepancy in al-Thawri's narration, for he once narrated it from Abu Wa'il, from Abu al-Hayyaj; whereas Abu Wa'il's hearing (sama') from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is established and authentic.

Abu al-Hayyaj narrates: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me: "Shall I not assign you to the task to which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) assigned me?" Then the narrator mentioned a narration similar in meaning to the hadith above.

Al-Qasim bin Muhammad narrates: I went to the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and said: O mother, uncover for me the graves of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his two companions (Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both) (that is, remove the covering from them). So she uncovered for me three graves which were neither very high nor completely level with the ground; rather, they were covered with the soil of the red open ground (batha' al-'arsah al-hamra'). I saw that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was foremost, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) had his head between the shoulders of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had his head at the feet of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade building over a grave, plastering it (with lime), or sitting on it; and he (peace and blessings be upon him) also forbade writing anything on it. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Muslim; he recorded with its chain the other matters apart from the writing, while the wording forbidding writing is sahih but gharib (rare). Likewise, Abu Mu'awiyah narrated it from Ibn Jurayj:

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade plastering graves, writing on them, building over them and sitting on them. These chains are sahih (authentic), but (in practice) they are not acted upon, for the graves of the Imams of the Muslims from the East to the West have writing on them, and this is a practice that the later generations (khalaf) took from the earlier ones (salaf).

Al-Sunabihi narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "My Ummah - or this Ummah - will remain firmly established upon its religion as long as it does not leave funerals to their families alone (that is, the whole community and society continue to take part in them)." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain provided that this al-Sunabihi is "Abdullah"; but if he is Abd al-Rahman bin Usaylah al-Sunabihi, then there is disagreement about his having heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); and the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

Hani', the freed slave of Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him), narrates: I heard Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a funeral where the deceased was being buried at a grave, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Seek forgiveness for your brother and ask Allah to grant him steadfastness, for he is now being questioned." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.