- The underlying reason for the prohibition is that women generally cannot endure such mournful and emotionally charged scenes; they might react with protest or uncontrolled grief that conflicts with the patience that the Law requires.
- As a rule, a prohibition signifies unlawfulness, yet Umm ʿAṭiyyah gathered from the surrounding circumstances that the Prophet’s directive barring women from funeral processions was not absolute.
- Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd nevertheless observed that other reports speak more sternly about women’s following funeral processions than does this ḥadith.
Chapter: The Imam’s Position in Relation to the Deceased
Samurah ibn Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I performed the funeral prayer behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for a woman who had died in childbirth, and he stood at her middle.”
Uncommon expressions
• wasṭuhā (her middle): in the narration the sīn is read quiescent. Al-Jawharī explains the rule: whenever the word bayna (between) could be inserted, the sīn is given sukūn; where bayna would not fit, the sīn is vocalised. One therefore says, “I sat wasṭ al-qawm” (in the midst of the people) with sukūn, but “I sat wasata al-dār” (in the centre of the house) with fatḥ.
• nifāsihā: with a kasrah on the nūn, meaning that she died during the post-partum period or because of it.
Overall meaning
Samurah ibn Jundub relates that he prayed behind the Prophet ﷺ when the latter offered the funeral prayer for a woman who had died in her post-partum bleeding. The Prophet stood opposite the middle of her body—an arrangement that shielded her from the gaze of the worshippers at a time before a special covering was placed over women’s biers. Allah knows best.
Lessons derived from the ḥadith
- Legitimacy and prescription of the funeral prayer.
- When the deceased is a woman, the imam should stand at her middle, regardless of whether she died in childbirth or for another reason. The decisive factor is her being female, not her state of post-partum bleeding, a description that carries no special ruling by scholarly consensus.