takbīrs—and that, on occasion, he might increase them to eight. When the news of the Negus’s death arrived, however, he pronounced only four, and from then on he kept to four until Allah took his soul.
3 – In al-Bukhārī (1245) and Muslim (951), on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, Jābir, Abū Hurayrah, and others, it is related that “the Prophet ﷺ used to pronounce four takbīrs in the funeral prayer.”
ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) gathered the people and fixed the number at four takbīrs.
Al-Ḥanafī said, “The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ assembled in Ibn Masʿūd’s house and unanimously agreed on four.”
That is what the sound ḥadiths establish, and anything else is considered anomalous.
Al-Nawawī observed: “Some Companions and others once differed over the prescribed number of takbīrs, but that difference has vanished, and the ummah is now unanimous that the number is four, with neither addition nor omission.”
Ibn al-Qayyim likewise stated: “He ﷺ used to pronounce four takbīrs.”
Al-Wazīr transmitted from the four Imams that the followers do not conform to an imam who adds more than four.
Al-Muwaffaq Ibn Qudāmah said: “There is no disagreement that one is not to follow an addition beyond four, and such an addition is unanimously not recommended.”
4 – Ḥadiths no. 463 and 464 indicate that the Prophet’s sunnah is to recite the Opening Chapter (al-Fātiḥah) after the first takbīr of the funeral prayer.
Al-Ḥākim said: “The scholars agree that a Companion’s statement, ‘It is sunnah,’ counts as a marfūʿ (Prophetic) report.”
5 – Sūrat al-Fātiḥah is the Mother of the Qur’an and its opening chapter. Reciting it after the first takbīr of the funeral prayer is supremely appropriate, for the funeral prayer is a supplication and an intercession for the deceased, and the etiquette of supplication is to precede it with praise of Allah Most High. The finest praise is the preamble of the Opening Chapter.
6 – The ḥadith also shows that it is commendable for the imam, at times, to raise his voice in part of the recitation, or