As for who has the greater right to lead the funeral prayer, some said it is the nearest relative, while others said it is the governing authority. Those who preferred the authority likened the funeral prayer to the Friday prayer, in that both are congregational. Those who preferred the relative compared it to the other rights of the deceased—such as shrouding and burial—in which the next of kin has priority. The majority of jurists hold that the ruler has the stronger claim.

Abū Bakr ibn al-Mundhir said: “Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī put Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ—who was the governor of Madinah—forward to lead the prayer over al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, saying, ‘Had it not been the Sunnah, you would not have preceded me.’” Abū Bakr added, “This is also my position.”

Most scholars maintain that the funeral prayer is only offered for someone who is physically present. Some allow it for an absent person, invoking the report about the Negus, yet the majority deem that incident unique to him alone.

They also disagreed about whether the prayer may be performed over only part of a body. The majority require that most of the body be present, arguing that the term “deceased” applies to it. Those who allow it over a smaller portion reply that the sanctity of a part equals that of the whole—especially if that part was the seat of life—and they are usually the same scholars who permit the prayer in absentia.

[Section Three: The Time of the Funeral Prayer]

Scholars differed over when the funeral prayer may be performed.

One group said it is not to be held during the three times in which prayer is forbidden—sunrise, sunset, and when the sun is at its zenith—basing themselves on the ḥadīth of ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir: “There are three hours in which the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—forbade us to pray or to bury our dead….”

A second group said the prayer is withheld only at sunrise and sunset; it may be offered after ʿAsr so long as the sun has not yellowed, and after Fajr so long as full daylight has not appeared.

A third group held that the funeral prayer is not permissible during any of the five prohibited times. This was the view of ʿAṭāʾ, al-Nakhaʿī and others, and by analogy it is also the position of Abū Ḥanīfah.

Al-Shāfiʿī maintained that the funeral prayer may be performed at any time, for in his view the prohibition concerns only voluntary prayers, not prescribed Sunnah practices, as has been mentioned earlier.

[Section Four: Places of the Funeral Prayer]

The scholars likewise disagreed about performing the funeral prayer inside the mosque. Most permitted it, but some—including Abū Ḥanīfah and certain Mālikīs—found it disliked, and this disapproval is also reported from Mālik himself. The specific case in question is when the bier is outside the mosque while the congregation is inside.