The hadith of Malik ibn Hubayrah - may Allah be pleased with him - who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - say

The Shaykh : The hadith following it, which is the fifth, is a good hadith. He said: And from Malik ibn Hubayrah - may Allah be pleased with him - who 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, would divide them into three rows for the sake of this hadith. It was narrated by Abu Dawud, and the wording is his, and by Ibn Majah and al-Tirmidhi, who said: It is a good hadith.
His saying: ; that is: Paradise became obligatory for him, and this is a known meaning in the hadiths, such as 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 - may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him - said: , then another funeral passed by and they spoke ill of it, so he - may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him - said: . 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 were asking about the difference or the reason for this statement. He said: . From here comes this meaning that you heard from the author: the concise statement; that is: Paradise became obligatory for him.
, and this hadith has a specific discussion that we mentioned in some of our previous lessons. The point here now is that those who accompanied the funeral and then attended to pray over it, whether their number is small or large, should be divided into three rows. The funeral in which this recommended practice is applied deserves, by the grace of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - and His good legislation, that Paradise be made obligatory for the deceased.
In this hadith there is a subtle expression. Malik said: "And Malik, when he faced the people of the funeral"; one might assume that the intended meaning of "people" here is relatives, but: no, the meaning is broader than that; it means those who accompany the funeral, whether they are relatives or distant ones, and these are the people of the funeral. So this Malik ibn Hubayrah - may Allah be pleased with him - would divide them into three rows, and he would straighten them completely, just as they straighten the rows for the obligatory prayer.
This is a good hadith, as we said.