ʿAtāʾ ibn Abī Maymūnah, from Anas (1). Al-Bukhārī said (2): “He is not corroborated in this narration.”

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah said (3): “The correct view is that if an absent person dies in a land where no funeral prayer is offered for him, the funeral prayer should be offered for him in his absence, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed for al-Najāshī, because he died among unbelievers and no funeral prayer was offered for him. If, however, the funeral prayer was offered for him where he died, it should not be offered for him in his absence, because the obligation has been discharged by the Muslims’ prayer for him. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) both offered the funeral prayer for the absent and refrained from doing so. His performing it is a sunnah (4), and his refraining from it is a sunnah. Each has its appropriate circumstances. And Allah knows best.”

All three views are found within Ahmad’s school, and the soundest is this distinction. The well-known view among his followers is that the prayer should be offered in all cases (5).

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It is authentically reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood up when a funeral procession passed him and instructed others to stand for it (6). It is also authentically reported