The Last Words a Person Hears

Talqin, meaning instruction or prompting, is the Islamic custom of gently encouraging the shahada, the declaration that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His messenger, to a dying Muslim, so that if at all possible those words are the last a person speaks or the last they hear spoken over them before death.

The practice rests on hadith reports in which the Prophet is remembered instructing his followers to prompt the shahada for the dying, understood not as a mechanical formula but as an act of mercy toward someone who may be too weak, frightened or confused in their final moments to summon the declaration unprompted, and as a means of ensuring the dying person's last conscious orientation is toward God. Those gathered at a deathbed, typically family members though a knowledgeable friend or visitor may also perform it, speak the words softly and without pressure, repeating gently rather than insistently, since classical guidance cautions against distressing or badgering a dying person who may already find speech difficult; if the person cannot repeat the words themselves, having them said audibly nearby is held to be spiritually sufficient.