Shaykh al-Islam said: If it should occur that the deceased himself is not worthy of being escorted, one may still accompany the funeral for the sake of his family—out of kindness to them, to win their hearts, in reciprocity, and the like—just as the Prophet ﷺ did for ʿAbd Allah ibn Ubayy.

The ḥadith highlights the virtue of attending a funeral—performing the prayer, accompanying the procession, carrying the bier, and taking part in the burial—as an affirmation of Allah’s promise and in hope of His reward. There is no objection to additionally intending to fulfill a fellow Muslim’s right and console his family; all of this is righteous action, and Allah’s bounty is vast.

Whoever remains with the funeral from the prayer until the burial, without leaving it, receives two qirāṭs of reward. One qirāṭ is like a mountain, and another narration specifies “as great as Mount Uhud.” Whoever only performs the funeral prayer forfeits half of this immense reward.

The Wise Lawgiver has urged believers to witness funerals because of their many benefits: fulfilling the deceased’s right through supplication, intercession, and prayer; discharging the right of his family and comforting them in their loss; obtaining reward for the escort; gaining admonition and reflection by witnessing death and graves; and other wisdoms Allah has embedded in His laws.

Some scholars state that following a funeral takes three forms:

1. performing the funeral prayer;
2. accompanying the cortege to the grave and remaining until the burial is complete;
3. staying afterward at the grave to supplicate for the deceased, asking Allah’s forgiveness and mercy for him.

The Companions’—may Allah be pleased with them—question about the meaning of the two qirāṭs refutes the deviant sects that accuse Ahl al-Sunnah waʾl-Jamāʿah of “consigning meaning” (tafwīḍ) with respect to the Qurʾanic and Prophetic texts on Allah’s names and attributes, claiming that they do not know the meanings and merely recite the words without understanding their realities, leaving the knowledge of them to Allah alone. There is no doubt that this charge is a lie, a fabrication, and a baseless slander against Ahl al-Sunnah.