“Offer the funeral prayer for your companion.” (1)
Likewise, regarding one who had misappropriated spoils, he said:
“Offer the funeral prayer for your companion.” (2)
Samurah ibn Jundab was once told, “Your son did not sleep last night.”
He asked, “Was it from overeating (3)?”
They replied, “Yes, from overeating.”
He said, “Had he died, I would not have offered the funeral prayer for him.”
He meant that he would thereby have killed himself.
Scholars disagree here over the following questions: Should refraining (4) from offering the funeral prayer over someone such as this be limited to the imam (5), in view of the Prophet’s words—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“Offer the funeral prayer for your companion”? Or was such abstention exclusive to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace? Or is it prescribed for anyone whose participation in the funeral prayer is especially sought? Does “imam” here mean the caliph or the regular appointed prayer leader? Is this restricted to these two, or does it also apply to others? These are all questions discussed elsewhere.
In any event, however, those who outwardly profess Islam fall into two categories: either a believer,
(1) The hadith of Jābir ibn Samurah is recorded in *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 2/265, Book of Funerals, chapter “What Has Been Related Concerning the Funeral Prayer Not Being Offered over One Who Kills Himself.” Its wording is: “A man killed himself, so the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not offer the funeral prayer over him.” Al-Tirmidhī said, “This is a sound (*hasan*) hadith.” He also mentioned the scholars’ disagreement on this matter and reported that Ahmad said, “The imam should not offer the funeral prayer over one who kills himself, though others may do so.” With some variation in wording, the hadith also appears in *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, 4/53, Book of Funerals, chapter “Refraining from Offering the Funeral Prayer over One Who Kills Himself.”
(2) The hadith of Zayd ibn Khālid al-Juhanī—may Allah be pleased with him—is recorded in *Sunan Abī Dāwud*, 3/91, Book of Jihad, chapter “On the Gravity of *ghulūl* (misappropriating spoils)”; *Sunan al-Nasāʾī*, 4/52, Book of Funerals, chapter “Offering the Funeral Prayer over One Who Misappropriated Spoils”; and *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 2/950, Book of Jihad, chapter “Misappropriation of Spoils.” It is also recorded in *al-Musnad*, al-Halabī ed., 5/192, and *al-Mustadrak*, 2/127. Al-Hākim said, “It is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim.” Al-Albānī graded the hadith weak and discussed it in *Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl*, 3/174–175.
(3) Ibn al-Athīr states in *al-Nihāyah*: “*Al-basham* is indigestion caused by rich food.”
(4) Manuscripts nūn, mīm, and wāw have: *taraka* (“he refrained from”); manuscript alif has: *tutraku* (“is to be omitted”).
(5) “The imam” is omitted from manuscripts hā and rā.