as many of the early generations maintained, and it is the legal opinion of Abu Hanifah and Malik. Others hold that recitation in the Funeral Prayer is a sunnah, as al-Shafiʿi and Ahmad affirmed on the basis of this narration from Ibn ʿAbbas and similar reports. Within that second group, some insist that the recitation is obligatory, just like in the regular prayer, while others state that it is recommended rather than obligatory. The latter view is the most equitable of the three, for the early generations practiced both approaches,