Ibn Sahl ibn Hunayf—one of the senior Ansar, a scholar among them, and the son of a man who fought at Badr with the Messenger of Allah—related that a Companion informed him that the Sunnah in the funeral prayer is for the imam to pronounce the first takbir, then to recite Fatihat al-Kitab (Surah al-Fatiha) silently to himself, and thereafter to complete the prayer with the remaining three takbirs. Al-Zuhri said: “I reported what Abu Umamah had told me about this to Muhammad ibn Suwayd al-Fihri, and he replied, ‘I too heard al-Dahhak ibn Qays narrating from Habib ibn Maslamah concerning the funeral prayer exactly what Abu Umamah related to you.’ ” This isnad is likewise sound. Al-Shafi‘i recorded the same report in al-Umm (1/239–240) through Ma‘mar from al-Zuhri, omitting al-Zuhri’s words: “I mentioned…,” and so forth. The hadith occurs with additional wordings and nuances in al-Hakim (1/360), and it has another chain in al-Darqutni (p. 191), as I have detailed in al-Ta‘liqat al-Jiyad. (1) The Shafi‘i school adopted this practice and unanimously held that the recitation comes after the first takbir. It is also the view of Ahmad. Abu Dawud relates in his Masa’il (p. 153): “I asked Ahmad about the supplication over the deceased. I said, ‘In the first takbir, is al-Fatiha to be recited?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ I asked, ‘What is done in the second?’ He said, ‘Blessings upon the Prophet.’ I asked, ‘In the third, supplication for the deceased?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I asked, ‘In the fourth, do I give the salam straightaway, or supplicate and then give the salam?’ He said, ‘You supplicate and then give the salam.’ ”