Ibn Battāl said:

“Al-Bukhārī was responding to al-Sha‘bī, who permitted offering the funeral prayer without ritual purity, saying: ‘It is a supplication containing neither bowing nor prostration.’ The jurists, both earlier and later, unanimously hold the opposite view, so no regard should be paid to his anomalous opinion. They also agree that it may only be offered facing the qiblah. Had it been merely a supplication, as al-Sha‘bī claimed, it would have been permissible to offer it facing another direction.”

He said:

“Al-Bukhārī’s argument in this chapter is sound.”

I say:

The disagreement thus concerns both the prostration of recitation and the funeral prayer. One view, held by al-Sha‘bī and those who agreed with him, is that neither constitutes prayer. Another is that both constitute prayer and require ritual purity.

What is transmitted from the Companions, and supported by the scriptural texts and analogy, is a distinction between the funeral prayer and prostration performed on its own, whether for recitation or thanksgiving.

This is because the scriptural texts establish that there is no prayer without ritual purification. Thus, in the two Sahīh collections, Abū Hurayrah reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah does not accept the prayer of any of you who has broken his ablution until he performs ablution.”

In Sahīh Muslim, Ibn ‘Umar reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah does not accept prayer without ritual purification, nor charity from misappropriated property.”

The Quran also indicates this in the words of the Most High:

“O you who believe, when you rise for prayer, wash your faces and your arms up to the elbows,” to the end of the verse.

He has also forbidden prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity or intoxication, saying:

“Do not approach prayer