The Ruling on Praying for the Absent and al-Hafiz’s Evidence for It

Question:
Hafs, Abu Bakr said: Hafs ibn Ghiyath narrated to us, from al-A'mash, from Ibrahim, from 'Ubaydah, from 'Abdullah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "Read to me."

Answer:
Blessing, blessing. May Allah guide you. This is al-Hafiz's statement regarding the issue of rows. Which issue? The prayer for the absent. Yes, yes, yes, regarding the conditions of the three. He did not speak about the absent one, the prayer for the absent one. We will discuss it. He mentioned it in the chapter on rows for the funeral. As for his statement: Abu al-Zubayr narrated from Jabir: "I was in the second row," and al-Nasa'i connected it through Shu'bah from Abu al-Zubayr with the wording . The one who attributed the connection of this commentary to Muslim's narration is mistaken, for he narrated it through Ayyub from Abu al-Zubayr, and it does not contain the intended point of the commentary. In the hadith is an indication that the rows have a number; the funeral gathering of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was a large number, and the prayer place was open space, and it would not have been narrow for them if they had formed a single row, yet he arranged them in rows. This is what Malik ibn al-Hubayrah, the prominent Companion mentioned earlier, understood, so he would arrange those who attended the funeral prayer in three rows, whether they were few or many. The issue remains regarding when the rows are multiple but the number is small, or when the row is single but the number is large; which is better? In the story of the Negus is a sign of the signs of prophethood; for he (peace and blessings be upon him) informed them of his death on the day he died, despite the distance between the land of Abyssinia and Madinah. And it was used as evidence for prohibiting the prayer for the dead in the mosque, which is the view of the Hanafis and the Malikis. And. And it was used as evidence for prohibiting the prayer for the dead in the house. On what? Prohibiting the prayer for the dead, prohibiting the prayer, yes. Yes, because he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the mosque, in other hadiths, yes. And it is the view of the Hanafis and the Malikis, but Abu Yusuf said: If a mosque is prepared for the prayer for the dead, there is no harm in praying in it for them. Al-Nawawi said: There is no proof in that; for what is prohibited by the Hanafis is bringing the dead body into the mosque, not merely praying in it, so even if the dead body is outside the mosque, it is permissible for one inside to pray for it. And Ibn 'Azzah and others said: Some of the Malikis used it as evidence, and that is false; for it does not contain a form of prohibition, and there is a possibility that he took them out to the prayer place other than the one mentioned. And it is established that he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for Suhayl ibn Bayda' in the mosque, so how can this explicit text be left for a probable matter? Rather, it is apparent that he only took the Muslims out to the prayer place with the intention of increasing the number of those who would pray for him, and to spread the news that he died upon Islam, for some people had not known that he had embraced Islam. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated in his Tafsir through Thabit, and al-Daraqutni in his Ahadith, and al-Bazzar through Humayd, both from Anas, that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for the Negus, some of his Companions said: "He prayed for a non-Arab from Abyssinia," so the verse was revealed. It has a corroborating narration in al-Tabarani's al-Mu'jam al-Kabir from the hadith of Wahshi ibn Harb, and another in his al-Mu'jam al-Awsat from the hadith of Abu Sa'id, The one who criticized it was a hypocrite. And it was used as evidence for the prescription of praying for the dead who is absent from the city, and this is what al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, and the majority of the Salaf said, until Ibn Hazm said: It has not come from any of the Companions. Al-Shafi'i said: The prayer for the dead is a supplication for him, and if he is shrouded, he is prayed for, so how would he not be supplicated for while he is absent? Or in the grave in the same manner in which he was supplicated for while shrouded? And from the Hanafis and the Malikis, it is not prescribed. And from some scholars, it is only permissible on the day the dead person dies, or close to it, not when the period has lengthened, as Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) reported. And Ibn Hibban said: It is only permissible for one who is in the direction of the qiblah, so if the dead person's city is, for example, facing the qiblah, it is not permissible, and if it is with its back to the qiblah, it is not permissible. Al-Mahbub al-Tabari said: I have not seen that from anyone else, and his proof is the proof of the one before him, which is sticking to the story of the Negus. The report of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's participation with them in this sticking will come later. And those who did not say the prayer for the absent is permissible excused themselves regarding the story of the Negus with several things, among which is that he was in a land where no one had prayed for him, so the prayer for him became necessary. And thus al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said: One does not pray for the absent one except if his death occurred in a land where there is no one to pray for him. And the Ruwayyan of the Shafi'is preferred it, and this is the commentary of Abu Dawud in the Sunan: Praying for a Muslim who is followed by people of shirk in another city. This is possible, but I have not found in any of the reports that no one prayed for him in his city. And from that is the statement of some of them: It was revealed to him (peace and blessings be upon him) until he saw him, so his prayer for him would be like the prayer of the imam for a dead person he saw but the ma'mumin did not see, and there is no disagreement on its permissibility. Ibn Daqiq al-Eid (may Allah have mercy on him) said: This needs criticism and is not established due to the possibility. And some of the Hanafis refuted him by saying that the possibility is sufficient in such a case from the side of prohibition. And it seems that the basis of the one who said that is what al-Waqidi mentioned in his Asbab without a chain from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his brother). He said: The veil was lifted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the Negus's son until he saw him and prayed for him. And Ibn Hibban has it from the hadith of Imran ibn Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him): "So he stood ." He narrated it through al-Awza'i from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Abu Qilabah, from Abu al-Muhallab, from him. And Abu 'Uwanah has it through Aban and others from Yahya: "So we prayed behind him and we did not see anything except that the funeral was in front of us." And among the excuses is that it was specific to the Negus, because it is not established that he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for any other absent dead person. Mihnad said: It seems that the story of Mu'awiyah al-Laythi was not established with him, and I have mentioned in his biography among the Companions that it is a strong report considering the totality of its chains. And those who said it was specific to the Negus relied on the previous intention of spreading that he died a Muslim, or winning the hearts of the kings who had embraced Islam in his lifetime. Al-Nawawi said: If the door of this specificity were opened, many of the apparent meanings of the Shari'ah would be blocked, and even if something of what they mentioned were true, the motivations to transmit it would have been abundant. And Ibn 'Arabi al-Maliki said: The Malikis said: That is not for anyone except Muhammad. We said: What Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) practiced, his Ummah practices, meaning because the default is the absence of specificity. They said: The earth was folded for him, and the funeral was brought before him. We said: Our Lord is capable of that, and our Prophet is worthy of that, but do not say except what has been narrated, and do not invent a hadith from yourselves, and do not report except what is established, and leave the weak ones, for they are a path to what has no remedy, a remedy or a precedent. To what has no remedy. Or similar to the meeting if the meeting has passed, it is sufficient. A word. The weak and fabricated ones are not proof, it is not religion by claim, that it was revealed to him or that he was present before him requires evidence, claims do not benefit. And al-Kirmani said: Their statement that the veil was lifted from him is prevented, and even if we concede it, he was absent from the Companions who prayed for him with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: Shaykh Abu Hamd preceded to that in his commentary, and it is supported by the hadith of Majma' ibn Jariyah, with the jim and the taa below, in the story of the prayer for the Negus, he said: "So we formed two rows behind him, and we did not see anything." Al-Tabarani narrated it, and its original is in Ibn Majah, but some of the Hanafis answered that with what was mentioned earlier, that it becomes like the dead person for whom the imam prays, and he sees him but the ma'mumin do not see him, for it is permissible by consensus. If everyone who permitted the prayer for the absent one agreed that it drops the collective obligation, except what is reported from Ibn al-Qattan, one of the Shafi'i scholars of obligation, who said: It is permissible and does not drop the obligation. The discussion on the disagreement regarding the number of takbirs in the funeral prayer will come in a separate chapter. May Allah bless you.