3. Some scholars have explained the wisdom behind the imam’s standing at the woman’s mid-section by saying that it affords her greater privacy from onlookers; otherwise, the head is the most honoured part of the body and would normally merit precedence.

4. If several biers are present, a single funeral prayer suffices for all of them. • If they are of the same category, the bier placed nearest to the imam should be that of the one superior in knowledge, piety, or age. • If the deceased include men, or a man together with women, the men—or the single man—are positioned before the women. The prayer of the congregation is an act of intercession for the deceased, so the supplication should be offered with sincerity and an attentive heart, hoping that Allah the Exalted will accept both the prayer and the intercession.

Benefit: The imam’s place when praying over a man is at the level of his head, based on the report authenticated by al-Tirmidhī (1032): “Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Ziyād prayed over a man and stood at his head; then he prayed over a woman and stood opposite the middle of the bier, and said, ‘This is how I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stand over the bier.’” This is the view of al-Shāfiʿī and Aḥmad. Ibn al-Mundhir stated that it is the position held by the majority of scholars.