Completing the funeral prayer and straightening the rows.

The Shaykh : Regarding intercession in the first hadith of this chapter in the previous lesson, and that the number forty is less than the number one hundred, and that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) bestowed a favor upon His servants, whereas before that, Allah’s forgiveness for the deceased was tied to one hundred people interceding and making du'a for them. He increased in His favor by saying: If these were forty, and they made du'a for him and interceded for him with sincerity, then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) would forgive him. However, here in this hadith, attention is drawn to something that should be pointed out... the neglect by imams of mosques of pointing this out;
So he says here that Abu al-Mulayh, who is a Tabi'i (a follower of a Companion), prayed with us over a funeral. We thought he had said the takbir, but he turned his face toward us and said: "Straighten your rows, and let your intercession be good." So he pointed out two things here:
The first is what people have neglected today, as if they look at the funeral prayer and think it has no value. Therefore, when the rows are formed behind the funeral, you find them extremely disordered, not straightened at least as they straighten the rows for the five daily prayers, even though they also neglect straightening the rows in the five daily prayers, but they improve them; especially when they bound themselves with the string that is stretched from east to west. Some people may think that this string is from the unlegislated public interests, but the truth is that it is from the misguided innovations. This is one of the fine points of the issues that only one who knows the harms of innovations in the religion and their effects, near or far, notices. Here you are now facing a real example: those who pray the five daily prayers on the string cannot straighten the rows without a string. And this is an example of what you find when they establish the prayer over a funeral; you find the row extremely disordered. Despite this, you find the imam who prays and does not speak, not even a word, or in the manner of some imams in the Saudi lands, who do not do well except to say "Straighten, straighten." As for the Sunnah, it has died, died in all the lands of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) except in some places where there are some strangers. We read in the Sunnah in the authentic hadiths that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say the takbir for the prayer as an imam leading the people except after he would say: , and he would sometimes say: , and he would say to this one "move back" and to that one "move forward," and so on. All these matters have become dead, even in the Holy City of Madinah, where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was spreading this light to his Companions, and they in turn transmitted it to those after them until it reached us and encompassed those who desired the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and clung to it with their teeth. Therefore, the short-sighted person is pleased when he finds the string stretched in the mosque, so the people are tied to the string and therefore they do not agree to move forward or backward. But if the string slips or is lost, the row slips and the row becomes disordered. Should the Muslim be like this? Never. The Muslim’s restraint comes from his heart; he is not tied to a simple string. This string may sometimes, also, be like some of the qibla walls in mosques that are deviated from the direction of the qibla, so the general public pray facing this wall, either toward the qibla or deviating from it. All of this is from the ill omen of intellectual and ideological stagnation due to traditional methodological rigidity.
So it is obligatory that we do not differentiate in straightening the rows between the five daily prayers and the funeral prayer; for it is a prayer. And therefore this noble Tabi'i, Abu al-Mulayh, pointed out to the people, while the narrator of the hadith thought he had said the takbir, and behold he turned to them and said: "Straighten your rows, straighten your rows." This is the first matter.
The second matter: He pointed out to what I mentioned to you in the previous lesson regarding the obligation of sincerity in the du'a for the deceased so that the deceased benefits, and so that our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) accepts the du'a and intercession of those who intercede for him, who pray over him and make du'a for him. This du'a, as we detailed in the previous lesson, has sincerity as one of its conditions. So he says here: "And let your intercession be good." It is not to be words that come out of your mouths without this speech reaching your hearts and coming out through your mouths. This is a benefit in this hadith, and praise be to Allah.
The hadith after it, which is the fifth, is a good hadith. It says: And from Malik ibn Hubayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: . And Malik—meaning this Companion, Malik ibn Hubayrah—when he faced the people of the funeral, he divided them into three rows for this hadith. It was narrated by Abu Dawud—and the wording is his—and Ibn Majah and al-Tirmidhi, and he said: A good hadith.
His saying: ; meaning: Paradise became obligatory for him. This is a known meaning in the hadiths, like the hadith that al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: A funeral passed by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they spoke well of it, so he said (peace and blessings be upon him): . Then another funeral passed by, and they spoke ill of it, so he said (peace and blessings be upon him): . They said: O Messenger of Allah, the first funeral passed by and you said: three times, then the other passed by and you said: —also—three times; meaning they are asking about the difference or the reason for this statement. He said: . From here came this meaning that you heard from the author, the concise speech; meaning: Paradise became obligatory for him. The first funeral . And this hadith has a specific study that we mentioned in some of our previous lessons. The point here now is: that those who accompanied the funeral, then attended to pray over it, whether their number is small or large; they should be divided into three rows. The funeral in which this Sunnah is applied deserves, by the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His good legislation, that Paradise becomes obligatory for this deceased. In this hadith there is a nice expression; Malik said: "And Malik, when he faced the people of the funeral." It may come to mind that the intended meaning of "people" here is the relatives, but no; the meaning is broader than that; it means those who accompany the funeral, whether they are relatives or distant ones; so these are the people of the funeral. So this Malik ibn Hubayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to divide them into three rows, and he used to straighten them completely as they straighten the rows for the obligatory prayer. This is a good hadith as we said.
As for the sixth hadith, which is the last number for me, and also the seventh hadith in some editions; both of them are weak.
The last hadith remains, which is his saying: Ibn Majah narrated it, and this hadith is the only authentic hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from his words encouraging condolence, and nothing else is authentic in this chapter from his words (peace be upon him). But there is another hadith in which the Messenger (peace be upon him) offered condolence to a man from the Companions whose son died. I will mention that to you—insha'Allah—if I do not forget, as I forgot these hadiths on this night. I will mention that to you—insha'Allah—in the next lesson, and we will also address some of the rulings in condolence and the innovations that have entered it which contradict the Sunnah. And this is enough, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.