Explanation of the Fifth Hadith from al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib, from the Book of Funerals, Chapter on Encouraging a Large Number of Prayers over the Funeral and on Consolatory Visits

The Shaykh : The hadith that follows, which is the fifth, is a good hadith. It says: "And from Malik ibn al-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 al-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 statement means that Paradise is 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 (peace and blessings be upon him) said Then another funeral passed by, and they spoke ill of it, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said They said: O Messenger of Allah, the first funeral passed by and I said three times, then the other passed by and I said 'it is decreed' also three times. They meant 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, meaning that Paradise is obligatory for him. The first funeral passed by and you spoke well of it, so Paradise was obligatory for it, and the other funeral passed by and you spoke ill of it, so the Fire was obligatory for it. You are the witnesses of Allah on earth. You are the witnesses of Allah on earth. This hadith has a specific discussion that we mentioned in some of our previous lessons. However, the point here now is that those who stood to accompany the funeral and then attended to pray over it, whether their number is small or large, should be divided into three rows. This funeral, in which this Sunnah is applied, deserves, by the grace of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His good legislation, that Paradise be decreed for the deceased. In this hadith, there is a nice 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 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. Malik ibn al-Hubayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) would divide them into three rows and straighten them out exactly as they straighten the rows for the obligatory prayer. This is a good hadith, as we said.