It is recommended that they form three rows, based on the hadith of Mālik ibn Hubayrah, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—say, “No Muslim dies and has three rows of Muslims offer the prayer over him without Paradise becoming assured for him.” Whenever Mālik found those attending a funeral to be few, he divided them into three rows because of this hadith. Reported by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī. (1)
— (3-16-4) The Imam’s Position:
The imam stands level with the head of a man and the middle of a woman.
The evidence for this is the report of Abū Ghālib, who said: “I offered the funeral prayer with Anas ibn Mālik over a man, and he stood level with his head. They then brought the funeral bier of a woman from Quraysh and said, ‘Abū Hamzah, offer the prayer over her.’ He stood level with the middle of the bier. Al-Alā ibn Ziyād then asked him, ‘Is this how you saw the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—position himself for the funeral prayer: standing in relation to her as you have stood, and in relation to the man as you stood?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ When he had finished, he said, ‘Commit this to memory.’” Reported by al-Tirmidhī and Abū Dāwūd. (2)
(1) A *hasan li-ghayrihi* hadith (acceptable due to corroborating evidence).
It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd in “Book of Funerals,” chapter “Rows for the Funeral Prayer,” hadith no. 3166, whose wording is cited here; by al-Tirmidhī in “Book of Funerals,” chapter “What Has Been Related Concerning the Funeral Prayer and Intercession for the Deceased,” hadith no. 1028; and by Ibn Mājah in “Book of Funerals,” chapter “What Has Been Related Concerning One over Whom a Group of Muslims Offers the Funeral Prayer,” hadith no. 1490. All its chains pass through Ibn Ishāq, who narrated it using the ambiguous formula *‘an* (“from”).
Al-Albānī graded the hadith *hasan li-ghayrihi* in *Ahkām al-Janā’iz wa Bida‘uhā* (pp. 99–100) and cited a corroborating report for it.
(2) An authentic hadith.
It was recorded by al-Tirmidhī in “Book of Funerals,” chapter “What Has Been Related Concerning Where the Imam Stands for a Man and a Woman,” hadith no. 1034, whose wording is cited here; by Abū Dāwūd in “Book of Funerals,” chapter “Where the Imam Stands in Relation to the Deceased When Offering the Funeral Prayer,” hadith no. 3194; and by Ibn Mājah in “Book of Funerals,” chapter “What Has Been Related Concerning Where the Imam Stands When Offering the Funeral Prayer,” hadith no. 1494.
Al-Tirmidhī graded the hadith *hasan* in his *Sunan*, and al-Albānī graded it authentic in *Ahkām al-Janā’iz* (p. 109).