470 – It is narrated from Sālim, on the authority of his father (may Allah be pleased with him), that “he saw the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar walking in front of a funeral bier.” The Five recorded it; Ibn Ḥibbān declared it authentic, whereas al-Nasāʾī and several others criticized it for being mursal (1).

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Degree of authenticity:
The hadith is ḥasan (fair).

It was reported by Aḥmad, the four compilers of the Sunan, Ibn Abī Shaybah (2/476), al-Ṭaḥāwī, al-Dāraquṭnī (2/70), and al-Bayhaqī (4/3) through various chains from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah → al-Zuhrī → Sālim → his father.

Imām Aḥmad said, “It is actually mursal from al-Zuhrī; the report through Sālim is from Ibn ʿUmar, and the version ascribed to Ibn ʿUyaynah is an error.”

Al-Tirmidhī commented, “The experts of ḥadith consider the mursal version to be sounder.”

Al-Albānī observed, “A group of reliable transmitters have unanimously related this hadith with a connected, marfūʿ chain: Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, Manṣūr ibn al-Muʿtamir, Ziyād ibn Saʿd, Bakr ibn Wāʾil, the nephew of al-Zuhrī, and ʿUqayl ibn Khālid. All of them explicitly raised it to the Prophet, and the chains leading to them are authentic.”

Points derived from the hadith:
1 – It is recommended to accompany the funeral procession until the deceased is buried. This is one of the rights a Muslim owes to his fellow Muslim, and it is a sunnah by agreement of the four Imams—indeed, by the consensus of the entire Muslim community.