459 – Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported: “I heard the Prophet ﷺ say, ‘Whenever a Muslim man dies and forty men—who do not associate anything with Allah—stand over his funeral bier, Allah grants them intercession on his behalf.’” Related by Muslim (1).

Vocabulary:
• janāzah, pronounced with a fatḥah on the jīm, refers to the deceased who is being carried; with a kasrah it designates the bier on which he is carried—though some reverse the two usages. The word comes from the root j-n-z, meaning “to cover.” Ibn Fāris and others stated this. Its imperfect verb is yujniz (with a kasrah on the nūn). The plural is janāʾiz.

Points derived from the hadith:

1. The funeral prayer is an act of intercession by the worshippers for the deceased; the larger the congregation, the better, for that increases the supplications, pleas for mercy, and requests for forgiveness offered on his behalf.
2. The presence of forty Muslim men who pray over the deceased and seek intercession for him is a special virtue, for by it the precious goal is attained: Allah accepts their supplication and permits their intercession.
3. The hadith underscores the excellence of tawḥīd—affirming Allah’s oneness and worshipping Him alone—and the need to shun polytheism and its pathways, including excessive veneration of created beings. Pure monotheism is a powerful cause for answered prayer, for nothing equals the merit of sincere tawḥīd, just as polytheism is a grave injustice. May Allah protect us from it.
4. Offering the funeral prayer in congregation is recommended by the unanimous agreement of the Muslims, because the Prophet ﷺ performed it, his Companions did likewise after him, and the Muslim community has continually observed it.
5. The phrase “who do not associate anything with Allah” includes both major and minor forms of polytheism, because the polytheists