the child’s face is towards her back. If she is buried in this position, the Muslim child will be facing the qiblah. By agreement of the scholars, the child is Muslim by virtue of his father being Muslim, even if his mother is a non-Muslim.”

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

“To the mufti of the people, a surviving representative of the noble predecessors, Taqī al-Dīn, one of the remaining scholars qualified to exercise independent legal reasoning—may Allah reward him and be gracious to him: Is there any authentic report from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, or his Companions concerning prompting the deceased in his grave after his burial is complete? If there is no such report, is it permissible to do this or not?”

He answered:

“This prompting has been reported from a group of the Companions, including Abū Umāmah al-Bāhilī and others, who instructed that it be done. A hadith concerning it has also been narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, but it cannot be judged authentic.

Many of the Companions did not practise this. For this reason, Imam Ahmad and other scholars said that there is nothing wrong with such prompting: they permitted it but did not enjoin it. Some followers of al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad considered it recommended, while some scholars among the followers of Mālik and others considered it disliked.