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Fiqh-us-Sunnah - 4.44
Hadith 4.44.1
Summary
Make sure that you meet all the requirements for a formal prayer (salah); Stand up with the intention of supplicating for the deceased; Raise both hands with a takbir (takbirat al ihram); Fold your right hand over your left hand; Commence the funeral prayer with the (silent) recitation of Al-Fatihah. After Al-Fatihah say another takbir, Offer salutations to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and end with a takbir.
Now supplicate for the deceased, and end with a takbir.
Make a general supplication.
End the prayer with salutations (to the right and to the left side).
Hadith 4.44.A
Imam's Position in Funeral Prayer for a Male or a Female
It is sunnah for the imam to stand opposite the head of a male body, and opposite the middle of a female body. This is based on a hadith reported from Anas that he offered a funeral prayer for a male standing opposite his head. As soon as the body of the man was removed, a female body was brought in for funeral prayer. He led the prayer standing opposite the middle of her body. Thereupon he was asked, "Did the Prophet, peace be upon him, stand where you stood in the cases of a man and a woman?" He answered: "Yes." This is narrated by Ahmad, Abu Daw'ud, Ibn Majah and Tirmidhi, who regards it as a sound hadith.
Al-Tahawi said: This is the most preferred position, because it is supported by other reports from Allah's Messenger, peace be upon him.
Hadith 4.44.B
Funeral Prayer for a Number of Dead Persons
If there are a number of bodies, including both male and female, they should be placed in separate rows, between the imam and the direction of the Ka'abah, with the best among them nearer to the imam, and a single funeral prayer may be offered for all of them.
If the deceased include both male and female, a separate prayer for each may be offered. But it is also permissible to offer one prayer for all of them at once.
In such a case the male should be placed immediately before the Imam and then the female in the direction of the Qiblah.
It is reported by Nafi' from Ibn 'Umar that he offered a funeral prayer for nine of the deceased, males and females. He placed the males closest to the imam and then the females in the direction of the Qiblah. He placed all of them in one row. The funeral of Umm Kulthum, daughter of 'Ali and the wife of 'Umar, and her son called Zaid, was led by Sa'id ibn al-'As, and among the people attending this funeral were Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurairah, Abu Sa'id and Abu Qatadah. The little boy was placed before the imam. A man said: "I do not like this arrangement, and looked towards Ibn 'Abbas, Abu Hurairah, Abu Sa'id and Abu Qatadah, and said to them: "What is this?" They replied: "This is the sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him,. This was narrated by Nasa'i and Al-Baihaqi, and Al-Hafiz says its chain of authorities is sound.
Another hadith says that if a funeral prayer is offered for a child together with a woman, the boy should be placed nearer the imam and the woman next to it in the direction of the Qiblah. And if there are men, women and children, then the children should be placed next to the men.
Qur'anic references:
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"When a person dies, his works end, except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge that is benefited from, and a righteous child who prays for him."
Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)
"The best of what a man leaves behind are three: a righteous child who supplicates for him, ongoing charity the reward of which reaches him, and knowledge that is acted upon after him."
Sunan Ibn Mājah
"Every day two angels come down from Heaven and one of them says, 'O Allah! Compensate every person who spends in Your Cause,' and the other (angel) says, 'O Allah! Destroy every miser.'"
Sahih Bukhari
