“…and the trench-style grave is for the People of the Scripture.” (1)
This ḥadith is reported through several chains (2) that contain minor weakness, yet they corroborate one another (3)(4).
The narration also draws attention to our obligation to differ from the People of the Scripture even in the manner of placing the deceased at the lowest part of the grave.
[Censuring Certain Practices of the Age of Ignorance]
ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (5)—may Allah be pleased with him—likewise related that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “He is not of us who strikes the cheeks, tears the garments, and calls with the cry of the Age of Ignorance.” This ḥadith is agreed upon (6). The “cry of the Age of Ignorance” includes wailing over the dead and also manifests in tribal partisanship.
(1) Musnad Ahmad 4/362–63, within the Musnad of Jarir b. ʿAbd Allah; also cited by al-Suyuti in al-Jamiʿ al-saghir 2/474, hadith no. 7748, who declares it sahih (sound).
(2) In the Aṭ manuscript the wording is: min tariq (through a chain).
(3) The printed edition reads: yaʿduḍ (supports).
(4) This judgment concerns only the hadith in the wording cited above. Other reports recommending the lahd (side-niche grave) are authentic: Muslim relates that Saʿd b. Abi Waqqas, during the illness in which he died, said, “Excavate a lahd for me and set the bricks over me as was done for the Messenger of Allah.” See Sahih Muslim, Book of Funerals, chapter “The lahd and setting bricks over the deceased,” hadith no. 966 (2/665).
(5) In manuscript B the transmission is “from Ibn Masʿud.”
(6) See Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Funerals, chapter “Whoever rends his garments is not of us,” hadith no. 1294 (3/163 of Fath al-Bari). Additional listings in Fath al-Bari appear under nos. 1297, 1298, and 3519; the first variant opens with: “slapping the cheeks.” See also Sahih Muslim, Book of Faith, chapter “The prohibition of striking the cheeks,” hadith no. 103 (1/99).