Scholarly disagreement:
The jurists differed over the ruling on the absentee funeral prayer.

Abu Hanifah, Malik, and their followers held that it is not prescribed. Their reply concerning the Negus and the Prophet’s prayer for him is that the matter was one of the Messenger’s special privileges.

Al-Shafi‘i, Ahmad, and their followers maintained that the prayer is legislated, relying on the two authentic hadiths. Declaring it a prophetic privilege requires explicit evidence, and none is forthcoming.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah adopted a middle position: if the deceased had not had the funeral prayer performed for him—such as the Negus—then the absentee prayer is to be offered. If the prayer has already been performed, the communal obligation (fard kifayah) has been fulfilled and no further prayer is required.

This is one narration from Imam Ahmad, and Ibn al-Qayyim validated it in Zad al-Hady. He reasoned that several Companions died while the Prophet ﷺ was alive yet no authentic report affirms that he prayed an absentee prayer for any of them; therefore, in such cases the prayer is obligatory.

Ibn Taymiyyah also related from Imam Ahmad that he said: “When a righteous man dies, the absentee prayer should be performed for him,” adducing the story of the Negus as proof.

Our teacher, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sa‘di—may Allah have mercy on him—preferred this nuanced view, and it is the practice in Najd: they offer the absentee prayer for those who possess virtue and prior service … to the Muslims, and leave it for others. In this situation the prayer is recommended.

Ibn al-Qayyim concluded: “The soundest opinion is this detailed approach.”