The third argument is as follows:

The most that can be said about his words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “Visit graves,” is that they constitute a general address. Yet his words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,

“Whoever offers the funeral prayer will receive one qīrāt of reward, and whoever follows the funeral procession until the deceased is buried will receive two qīrāts,”

are clearly more general in scope than the masculine form of address. The word “whoever” includes both men and women by universal agreement, notwithstanding the dissent of those who do not know what they are saying. Indeed, “whoever” is among the strongest expressions of generality. Nevertheless, authentic hadiths establish that this general wording does not include women, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade them from following funeral processions, whether this prohibition establishes unlawfulness or merely discourages the practice. If they are not included in this general wording, then they are all the more clearly excluded from the other. Both practices belong to the same category, for accompanying a funeral procession is akin to visiting graves.

Allah Most High says:

“And never pray over any of them who dies, nor stand at his grave.”

He thus forbade His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from praying over the hypocrites or standing at their graves. The contrary implication of this wording and the implications of the stated rationale require that believers be prayed over and that people stand at their graves. As most Quran commentators explain, this means standing there to supplicate for them and seek forgiveness for them, which is the purpose of visiting believers’ graves. If women are not included in the general wording concerning following funeral processions, despite the prayer over the deceased that this entails, then the argument for excluding them from visits to graves, whose purpose ranks below praying over the deceased, is