It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) offered the funeral prayer, then he came to the grave of the deceased and scattered three handfuls of earth from the side of (the deceased’s) head.
Related hadith on this topic
Explanation & Benefits
Maulana Ataullah Sajid
Benefits and Issues:
(1)
If the one who performs the funeral prayer remains until the burial, he should throw at least three handfuls of soil onto the grave.
(2)
By "handful" (lapp), it is meant to throw soil with both hands joined together. In Punjabi, this is called "buk." Taking something with one hand is called "chullu" in Urdu; this is not what is meant in the hadith.
Source: Commentary on Sunan Ibn Mājah by Mawlānā ‘Atā’ullāh Sājid, Page: 1565
Shaykh Dr. Abdur Rahman Freywai
Explanation:
1:
The argument of these people is based on the hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar radi Allahu anhuma, in which it is mentioned that when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam performed the funeral prayer (salat al-janazah), he would raise both his hands at every takbir. Its documentation has been done by Daraqutni in his ‘Ilal through the chain of «عن عمربن شبه حدثنا یزیدبن هارون انبأنا یحییٰ بن سعیدعن نافع عن ابن عمروقال هکذا ...رفعه عمربن شبة», but a group has opposed them and narrated it from Yazid ibn Harun as a mawquf (stopped at the Companion) narration, and this is what is correct. There is no authentic marfu‘ (attributed to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) narration in this chapter.
2:
The argument of these people is based on the hadith of this chapter, but this narration is weak, as is evident from its documentation. Their second evidence is the narration of Ibn Abbas; its documentation has been done by Daraqutni. In it, it is mentioned that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would raise both his hands at the first takbir in the funeral prayer, and then would not do so again. However, in it is a narrator, Fadl ibn Sakan, whom the scholars have declared weak.
Note:
(In the chain, Abu Fardah Yazid ibn Sanaz is a weak narrator,
but on the basis of corroborating narrations and supporting witnesses, this hadith is hasan (good).
) (See Ahkam al-Jana'iz: 115, 116)
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhi – Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar al-Da‘wah, New Delhi Edition, Page: 1077