Book of Visiting the Sick and Escorting the Deceased
(The rules of) offering the funeral prayer, attending the burial, and remaining at the graveside afterward

894 – Al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed us to visit the sick, follow the funeral procession, respond to a sneezer with the prayer of mercy, fulfill the request of one who swears an oath, support the oppressed, accept an invitation, and spread the greeting of peace.” Agreed upon.

[Commentary]
We have already encountered in Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, by Imām al-Nawawī (d. 676 AH), a number of beneficial chapters, all of which dealt with the living. In this chapter, he turns to the rulings on visiting the sick and accompanying funerals. Concerning visiting the sick, some scholars hold that it is a communal obligation (farḍ kifāyah): if no one performs it, the duty falls upon anyone who is aware of the patient’s condition, for the Prophet ﷺ counted it among the rights a Muslim owes his brother—and it is not fitting