Hell).” He said, “I wished that I had been that deceased person.” Narrated by Muslim.
In another version narrated by him: “…and protect him from the trial of the grave and the torment of the grave.” (1)
Issue Seven: Concluding the Funeral Prayer with the Salām
The Sunnah in the funeral prayer is to offer two salāms, as in the regular prayer. It is also permissible to offer only one salām to the right; whichever of the two a Muslim does is permissible. The salām should be offered quietly and softly.
The evidence for this includes:
The report from Abd Allah ibn Masūd, who said, “There are three practices that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—used to observe but which people have abandoned. One of them is concluding the funeral prayer with the salām in the same manner as the regular prayer.” Narrated by al-Bayhaqī. (2)
And the report from Abū Hurayra: “The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—performed the funeral prayer, pronounced four takbīrs over the deceased, and offered a single salām.” Narrated by al-Dāraqutnī. (3)
(1) Sahih hadith. Muslim narrated it in the “Book of Funerals,” chapter “Supplication for the Deceased during the Prayer” (hadith no. 963).
Note: The eminent scholar al-Albānī compiled a number of authentic hadiths containing supplications for the funeral prayer in *Ahkām al-Janāʾiz* (pp. 123–126).
(2) Sahih hadith. Al-Bayhaqī narrated it in *al-Kubrā* (4/43). Al-Albānī graded the hadith hasan and quoted al-Nawawī as saying, “Its chain of transmission is sound.” See *Ahkām al-Janāʾiz* (p. 127).
(3) Hasan hadith. Al-Dāraqutnī narrated it in *al-Sunan* (2/72), and this is his wording. Al-Hākim also narrated it in *al-Mustadrak* (1/360), and through him al-Bayhaqī in *al-Kubrā* (4/43). Al-Albānī graded the hadith hasan in *Ahkām al-Janāʾiz* (p. 128).
Note: Al-Hākim said in *al-Mustadrak* (1/360): “The practice of concluding the funeral prayer with a single taslīm has been authentically reported from ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā, and Abū Hurayra: they would conclude the funeral prayer with a single taslīm.”