Performing The Janaazah salaah for Several People at once

Q: Janaa'iz-62: A woman and three little boys and girls passed away in a town close to our village. Will the Janaazah salaah be valid if they are all placed in a line in order and one Janaazah salaah performed? Can one Janaazah salaah be performed if the children were not of age? If one Janaazah salaah suffices, how must the Janaazah salaah be performed and how must the bodies be placed? Please furnish a detailed reply.

Answer: There is no harm is performing the Janaazah salaah for all of them at once. The Janaazah salaah will then be valid for them all. The du'aa recited for adults will suffice for all because it applies to young people as well. It is however best to perform each Janaazah salaah separately, with the Janaazah salaah of the best of them being performed first, followed by the next best and so forth.

If all are performed at once, it is necessary for the intention to include them all. If they are varied in type, there are three manners in which they may be placed:

The First: Line all the bodies from north to south with the man's body first. The boy should be placed at the man's feet, the woman at the boy's feet and the girl at the woman's feet. The Imaam will then stand before the man. The scenario is as follows:

?

Girl <-? Woman <-? Boy <- Man

^

^

Imaam

?

The Second: All the bodies are placed in front of the Imaam so that he faces all of their chests. First will be the man, followed by the boy, the woman and then the girl. This method is better than the first. It is as follows:

?

Girl

^

Woman

^

Boy

^

Man

^

^

Imaam

?

The Third: It is also permissible to place the bodies in such a manner that the head of the one is in line with the shoulder of the other, as a staircase would appear to look. It would look like this:

?

Girl

Woman

Boy

Man

^

^

Imaam

?

While the du'aa for the adult Janaazah (ALLAAHUMMAG FEERLI HAYYEENAA- WA?MAYYEETANA?.) will suffice for them all. it is best to recite the du'aa for children together with it.

N.B. If there is a hermaphrodite also, his body will be placed before that of the woman. And Allaah knows best what is most correct.

Fatawa Rahimiyyah vol.3