prayer is to be offered over a grave after three days. They argued that after three days the deceased is no longer among those over whom the funeral prayer may be offered. Yet the contrary is known to be true, quite apart from the report “that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) prayed over a grave after three days.”
Section: Arranging the Deceased for the Funeral Prayer
When the bodies of men and women, free persons and slaves, children and adults are gathered together, the sunnah in the funeral prayer is to give free persons precedence over slaves, whether children or adults, and males precedence over females, whether children or adults. Adults are given precedence over children only when they are equal in status as free persons or slaves, and as males or females.
Section
When all twelve categories are present, they are arranged by placing the highest-ranking category foremost: adult free men. If they differ in learning, virtue, and age, the most learned is placed foremost, followed by the most virtuous, then the oldest. It has also been said that the most virtuous is given precedence over the most learned. This is unconvincing, because the distinction conferred by learning can be established with certainty, whereas superiority in virtue cannot.
Next come free boys. If they differ in their memorization of the Quran, their knowledge of religious matters, their diligence in observing the prayers and performing acts of obedience, and their age, those with religious knowledge are given precedence over those known for their diligence in prayer and acts of obedience, followed by the oldest. If age is the only distinction between them, the older is given precedence over the other.
Next come adult male slaves. If they too differ in learning, virtue, and age, the order already described for free men applies. Next come slave boys; if they differ among themselves, the order already described for free boys applies.
This follows the principle established above: free persons take precedence over slaves, whether children or adults. This is the view of Ibn al-Qāsim and Ibn Abī Hāzim. Ibn Habīb adopted it and attributed it to those of Mālik’s companions whom he had met. It has also been related from Ibn al-Qāsim that he gave adult male slaves precedence over free boys, because an adult male slave may lead the prayer, whereas a free boy may not. The reasoning behind the first view is that the disadvantage of enslavement is more enduring than that of childhood: a child will inevitably reach adulthood if he lives, whereas a slave may never be freed.
Next come adult free persons whose sex is indeterminate, then free persons whose sex is indeterminate