437 – Abu Saʿīd and Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Prompt your dying ones with: There is no god but Allah.” Related by Muslim and the Four ⦗1⦘.

Vocabulary of the ḥadīth
• laqqinū: imperative of talqīn—reminding or prompting. Al-Miṣbāḥ says: “I prompted him with a phrase and he repeated it from my mouth,” meaning that one person utters the words and another follows him in saying them.
• mawtākum: “your dying ones,” i.e., those upon whom the signs of death have appeared during the throes of passing; they are called “the dead” in anticipation of what is imminent.

Lessons derived from the ḥadīth

1. It is recommended to prompt the dying person with the word of sincerity, “There is no god but Allah.” Ibn Ḥibbān adds: “Whoever’s last words are ‘There is no god but Allah’ will enter Paradise.”
2. Al-Manāwī stated that this ḥadīth is mutawātir, and the talqīn described here is an established sunnah on which all Muslims agree.
3. The jurists hold that he should be prompted once and no more, lest it weary him; but if he speaks after being prompted, the talqīn is repeated so that his final utterance is “There is no god but Allah.”
4. The greatness of this noble phrase corresponds to the magnitude of its benefit: saying it with sincerity and living by it is a means of deliverance from the Fire and entry into Paradise. O Allah, cause us to live upon it and to die upon it.