Washing the Dead and Praying Over Them Before the Mosque

Question:
The questioner asks: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, what is the Shaykh’s view regarding washing the dead and praying over them before they are taken to the mosque?

Answer:
Our view is that a person should not rush to pray over the funeral with his Muslim brothers in the mosque, because increasing the congregation and the rows over the deceased is required, and they should not disperse in this matter. They should gather in the mosque and pray over it all together, because this is more conducive to the acceptance of their supplication for the deceased. They should not compete to pray over it, because some of them pray over it even before it is washed, and this prayer is not valid. The conditions for the validity of the funeral prayer must be met, namely that the washing and shrouding have been completed. So a person should not rush, or pray over it before the imam of the mosque so that he can go to another mosque where there are funerals; this also has no basis. If you want the full reward, do with the funeral what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to: pray over it with the praying people, accompany it, walk with it to the cemetery, sit or stand by it until it is buried, and when the burial is complete, stand over it and supplicate for it, seeking forgiveness for it, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you,