As for those who did not consider the report sound, they held that the suicide is to be treated like any other Muslim. Although the tradition states that he belongs to the people of the Fire, he will not remain there eternally, for he is counted among the people of faith. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—related from his Lord: “Bring out of the Fire everyone who has in his heart even the weight of a mustard-seed of faith.”

They also disagreed about offering the funeral prayer for martyrs slain on the battlefield. Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī maintained that no prayer is to be performed for a martyr killed in combat and that he is not to be washed. Abū Ḥanīfah, however, held that the prayer should be performed for him and that he should be washed.

The source of their disagreement lies in the divergent reports on the matter. Abū Dāwūd, through the chain of Jābir, transmitted that “the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—ordered that the martyrs of Uḥud be buried in their clothes; no funeral prayer was performed for them, and they were not washed.”

On the other hand, a musnad report through Ibn ʿAbbās states that “the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—performed the funeral prayer over those killed at Uḥud and over Ḥamzah, though they were neither washed nor given dry ablution (tayammum).” The same has been narrated as a mursal tradition from Abū Mālik al-Ghifārī. It is likewise reported that a Bedouin was struck by an arrow that lodged in his throat and died; the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—performed the funeral prayer for him and said, “This servant set out striving in Your path and was killed a martyr, and I testify concerning him.”

Each group preferred the reports that supported its own position. The Shāfiʿīs objected to the Ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās, saying, “It is transmitted by Ibn Abī al-Zinād, whose memory failed toward the end of his life, and Shuʿbah criticized him.” As for mursal traditions, they do not consider them probative.

The jurists also differed as to when the funeral prayer is performed for a child. Mālik said, “No prayer is offered for a child until he cries aloud,” and al-Shāfiʿī agreed. Abū Ḥanīfah held that the prayer is offered once the soul has been breathed into him—that is, after four months in the womb—and Ibn Abī Laylā concurred.

The reason for their disagreement is the tension between an unqualified text and one that is qualified. Al-Tirmidhī transmitted from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—that he said: “No funeral prayer is offered for a child, nor does he inherit or be inherited from, until he gives a cry…"