and Ishaq. Some scholars, however, maintain that nothing is to be recited in the funeral prayer; it should consist only of praising Allah, invoking blessings on the Prophet, and supplicating for the deceased. This view is held by al-Thawri and other scholars of Kufa. I say: this is also the position of our own jurists. Imam Muhammad states in al-Muwatta (165): “There is no recitation in the funeral prayer,” and that is likewise the opinion of Abu Hanifa. Abu al-Hasanat comments: “The statement may be a total negation of its legitimacy, implying that it is disliked. Many of our later scholars say explicitly that reciting al-Fatiha in the funeral prayer is makruh. They add that if it is read as a supplication, there is no objection. It may also be understood as denying obligation, not permissibility.” Hasan al-Shurunbulali, one of the later Hanafi scholars, inclined to the latter understanding. He wrote a treatise entitled al-Nazm al-Mustatab li-Hukm al-Qira’a fi Salat al-Janaza bi-Umm al-Kitab, in which he refuted, with decisive proofs, those who considered it disliked. This is the preferred view, for the practice is authentically reported from the Messenger of Allah and from his Companions. He cited some of the hadiths mentioned earlier, including the present report of Ibn Abbas, along with various Companion reports for and against recitation, and concluded: “In sum, the Companions differed, but the act of recitation itself is established; therefore it cannot be deemed disliked—at most it is not obligatory.” Abu al-Hasan al-Sindi adds: “Al-Fatiha is preferable and better than other supplications, and there is no ground for prohibiting it. Many of our verifying scholars hold this view, though they stipulate that it be recited with the intention of supplication and praise, not as formal Qur’an recitation.”