The ruling on the figurative interpretation (ta'wil) of Ibn 'Umar's hadith regarding the funeral prayer
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The questioner : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. I am the one who made the mistake, and indeed, that is what they say. But, glory be to Allah, despite the fact that the evidence is explicit in al-Bukhari from Ibn 'Abbas. Yes, indeed. But Professor Thabit, what is their argument regarding Ibn 'Umar's statement in al-Muwatta, narrated from Nafi' from Ibn 'Umar, that he used not to recite in the funeral prayer? Is it not possible to interpret this to mean that he did not recite anything other than al-Fatihah, for example?
The Shaykh : By Allah, my master, the door of interpretation is possible, but what necessitates interpretation is the scope of reconciliation, and there is no scope for reconciliation between a report traced to the Prophet (marfu') and a report stopping at a Companion (mawquf).
The questioner : Yes, yes, meaning we can say that Ibn 'Umar is saying there is no recitation.
The Shaykh : Yes, but this is something the Hanafis do not take pleasure in, because if he does not recite al-Fatihah, then he does not recite the opening supplication (du'a' al-istiftah) a fortiori.
The questioner : Correct, and they have no evidence at all, neither a hadith nor anything else.
The Shaykh : That is the point.
The questioner : Yes. And may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And go ahead, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : By Allah, my master, the door of interpretation is possible, but what necessitates interpretation is the scope of reconciliation, and there is no scope for reconciliation between a report traced to the Prophet (marfu') and a report stopping at a Companion (mawquf).
The questioner : Yes, yes, meaning we can say that Ibn 'Umar is saying there is no recitation.
The Shaykh : Yes, but this is something the Hanafis do not take pleasure in, because if he does not recite al-Fatihah, then he does not recite the opening supplication (du'a' al-istiftah) a fortiori.
The questioner : Correct, and they have no evidence at all, neither a hadith nor anything else.
The Shaykh : That is the point.
The questioner : Yes. And may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And go ahead, if Allah wills.
Source
سلسلة الهدى والنور، المجلس 1356 — d3watuna.com (2:16)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.