the deceased.

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—then quoted three hadiths: the hadith of ʿĀʾishah, the hadith of ʿAbd-Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, and the hadith of Mālik ibn Hubayrah (may Allah be pleased with them). All of them indicate that the more people gather for the funeral prayer, the better it is and the more likely it becomes that the deceased will obtain intercession.

In ʿĀʾishah’s report we are told that if a company of one hundred believers performs the funeral prayer for someone—each of them beseeching Allah to forgive him—Allah grants them intercession on his behalf. It is clear, therefore, that those praying over the bier are interceding with Allah for the deceased: they ask Allah to forgive him and to show him mercy. Supplicating for the deceased during the funeral prayer is one of the prayer’s most essential components; indeed, it is a pillar without which the funeral prayer is invalid—except for the person who joins late.

Ibn ʿAbbās’s hadith teaches that if forty men who do not associate anything with Allah stand over a person’s funeral, Allah accepts their intercession for him. This is glad news for the believer: when many people pray over his funeral and plead with Allah for him, Allah will accept their plea.

As for the hadith of Mālik ibn Hubayrah, it contains the Prophet’s words: “Whoever has three rows pray over him has earned it,” meaning that Paradise becomes obligatory for him. All these narrations show that the larger the assembly, the better. For this reason we see some people, after performing a funeral prayer in one mosque, alert worshippers in other mosques so that the congregation will grow; therefore, the imam, when he sees