Assisting the Holy Prophet (sa) in a Burial

There is an incident about Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) assisting the Holy Prophet (sa) in burying a deceased companion. In this regard, Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud (ra) reports,

“I accompanied the Holy Prophet (sa) during the expedition of Tabuk. I woke up one night and noticed some light coming from a fire that was lit on one flank of the army, so I went toward it to see what it was. There, I saw the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Hazrat Umar (ra). I saw that Hazrat Abdullah Dhu al-Bijadain Muzani (ra) had passed away, and they had already dug his grave. The Holy Prophet (sa) was standing in the grave, while Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Hazrat Umar (ra) were lowering the body into the grave. The Holy Prophet (sa) was saying, ‘You both should lower your brother toward me.’ Thus, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Hazrat Umar (ra) lowered the body of Hazrat Abdullah Dhu al-Bijadain (ra) towards the Holy Prophet (sa). When the Holy Prophet (sa) had placed him in the grave, he offered the prayer:

اللّٰهُمَّ‭ ‬إنِّيْ‭ ‬أَمْسَيْتُ‭ ‬رَاضِيًا‭ ‬عَنْهُ‭ ‬فَارْضَ‭ ‬عَنْهُ‬‬‬‬‬‬

That is, ‘O Allah, I spent the day until the evening in a state that I was pleased with him, pray be pleased with him as well.’”

Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas‘ud (ra) says, “At that moment, I wished that I was the one being buried.”

(Ibn Hisham, Sirat Ibn Hisham, Kitab Rasul (sa) Allah li Sahib Ilah [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 2001], p. 822)