460 – Samurah ibn Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I performed the funeral prayer behind the Prophet ﷺ for a woman who had died during her postpartum period, and he stood aligned with the middle of her body.” Agreed upon (1).
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Vocabulary of the ḥadith
• “A woman”: She was Umm Kaʿb al-Anṣāriyyah.
• “Died during her postpartum period”: The preposition “in” (fī) may indicate circumstance—she died while still in postpartum bleeding—or causation—she died because of it. The state of postpartum bleeding carries no legal weight by consensus, whereas her being a woman is legally significant according to most scholars.
• “Her middle”: With a short vowel (wasaṭahā), it means he stood opposite the midpoint of her body. With sukun (wasṭuhā), it would mean “among” or “between,” as in “I sat wasṭ al-qawm” (among the people). The intended sense here is the first.
Lessons derived from the ḥadith
- It is recommended that, when the deceased is a woman, the imam stand at her mid-section, directly opposite her hips. This is the preferred practice; the bare minimum is to face any part of the deceased, whether male or female. The fact that she died in postpartum bleeding does not affect where the imam stands.
- Although a woman who dies in childbirth is counted among the martyrs, the outward legal rites still apply to her: washing, shrouding, and the funeral prayer. She nevertheless receives the reward of a martyr, Allah willing. This meaning is likely what prompted the narrator to mention her having died during the postpartum period.