Chapter: The Funeral Prayer

Offering the funeral prayer for every Muslim who dies is a duty upon the Muslims who are present and aware of the death. If the minimum number required for a congregation fulfils it, the obligation is lifted from the rest; those who do not attend incur no sin, while those who do earn its reward. In this regard it resembles jihad: the one who stays behind is not equal to the one who goes forth.

The funeral prayer may be performed at any time except at the very moments of sunrise and sunset. It is valid only in a state of ritual purity. The prayer comprises four takbīrs (pronouncements of “Allāhu akbar”). After the first takbīr he extols Allah and invokes blessings upon the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him. After the second and the third he supplicates for the deceased. He then gives the fourth takbīr, followed by a single, brief salām audible to himself, like the salām that concludes an obligatory prayer; when praying alone he does not raise his voice. The imam’s salām, and the salām of those behind him, should likewise be loud enough for the nearest worshipper to hear. If the followers’ salām is a little louder, there is no harm.

Some have said that if the followers’ salām were slightly softer, that too would be unobjectionable.

Whoever joins the imam while he is already making the supplication has