ced down near the grave, the
people say:--

"We commit thee to earth in the name of God and in the religion of the
Prophet."

If the ground is very hard, a recess (lahad) is dug out in the side of the
grave. This must be high enough to allow the corpse to sit up when Munkir
and Nakir come to interrogate it. If the ground is soft a small grave is
excavated at the bottom of the larger one. The corpse is then placed in the
lower one. The idea in both cases is that the corpse must be in such a
position that it can have free movement. The body is placed with the face
towards Mecca. When the bands of the shroud have been loosened the people
say:--

"O God deprive us not of the heavenly reward of the deceased, place us not
in trouble."

Each person then takes seven clods of earth, and over each clod says;
"Bismillah" (in the name of God), and the Surat-ul-Iklas (Sura cxii) and
then places each clod by the head of the corpse. Unburnt bricks, bamboos or
boards having then been placed over the smaller grave, the persons present
with both hands throw clods of earth three times into the grave. The first
time they say: "From it (earth) We created you"; the second time, "and into
it will We return you;" the third time, "and out of it will We bring you a
second time." (Sura xx. 57).

Then they say this Du'a: "O God I beseech Thee for the sake of Muhammad not
to trouble the deceased."

When the attendants are filling up the grave they say:--

"O God, defend the deceased from Shaitan (devil) and from the torments of
the grave."

When the grave is completely filled up, one man pours {212} water three, or
five, or seven times over it and then plants a green branch on it.[220]

One of the mourners then draws near the middle of the grave and recites the
Talqin (instruction):--

"O servant of God, and child of a female servant of God.

O son of (such an one),[221] remember the faith you professed on earth to
the very last; that is, your witness that there is no God but God, and that
certainly Muhammad is His Apostle, and that Paradise and Hell and the
Resurrection from the dead are real; that there will be a day of judgment,
and say: 'I confess that God is my Lord, Islam my religion, Muhammad (on
whom be the mercy and peace of God) my Prophet, the Quran my guide, the
K'aba my Qibla, and that Muslims are my brethren.' O God, keep him (the
deceased) firm in this faith, and widen his grave, and make his examination
(by Munkir and