Abū Dāwūd (1) related from al-Bahī, who said: “When Ibrāhīm, the Prophet’s son, died, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, offered the funeral prayer for him at al-Maqā‘id (2).” This is a mursal report. Al-Bahī’s name was ‘Abd Allāh ibn Yasār, and he was from Kufa.

He also related (3) from ‘Atā’ ibn Abī Rabāh that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, offered the funeral prayer for his son Ibrāhīm when he was seventy nights old. This too is a mursal report. ‘Atā’ was mistaken here, for Ibrāhīm was already over a year old.

Scholars differed over these reports. Some affirmed that the funeral prayer had been offered for him and rejected the authenticity of ‘Ā’isha’s hadith, as Imam Ahmad and others did. They said: “These mursal reports and al-Barā’s hadith reinforce one another.”

Others judged al-Barā’s hadith weak because of Jābir al-Ju‘fī, and judged (4) these mursal reports weak as well. They said: “Ibn Ishāq’s hadith is more authentic than these.”

The latter then differed over why he had not offered the funeral prayer for him (5). One group said: “Being the son of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, made him have no need of the funeral prayer (6), which constitutes intercession for him, just as martyrdom makes the martyr have no need of the funeral prayer.”