Ibn Hibban

Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the funeral prayer for the martyrs of Uhud, then he returned and sat on the pulpit. He praised and glorified Allah, then said: O people! I will precede you and I will be a witness for you. By Allah! I do not fear that you will commit shirk after me, but last night the keys to the treasures of the earth and the heavens were given to me, so I fear that you will become inclined towards the world. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went into the house, and after that, he did not come out of the house until Allah took his (blessed soul). (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specifically mentioned the martyrs, those who were martyred in battle, that he did not offer their funeral prayer. In this matter, he differentiated between them and other deceased persons, because all other deceased are given ghusl (ritual washing) and their funeral prayer is offered, but those who are martyred during battle, neither is their funeral prayer offered nor are they given ghusl; they are buried in their blood. As for the narration transmitted by Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went and offered the funeral prayer for the martyrs of Uhud, this does not contradict the narration transmitted by Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), which we have already mentioned, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to Uhud and later prayed for the martyrs of Uhud, just as he used to pray for other deceased during the funeral prayer. The Arabs also use the word "salat" for supplication (dua). The Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) going to the martyrs of Uhud, visiting them, and praying for them is a Sunnah for his Ummah after him, that they visit the martyrs of Uhud and pray for them, just as supplication is made for the deceased during the funeral prayer. Similarly, regarding the narration transmitted from Sayyiduna Zayd bin Abu Anisah (may Allah be pleased with him), which we have already mentioned, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went inside and after that did not come out of his house until Allah took his (blessed soul), this is a clear statement that the prayer was actually a supplication which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made specifically for those individuals, because the time of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) departure from this world was near. If, in the narration transmitted from Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him), the word "salat" meant the funeral prayer like that of other deceased, then it would be necessary for the one who holds this view to accept that offering the funeral prayer at the grave is permissible, even if it is done seven years later, because the Battle of Uhud took place in the third year of Hijrah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to pray for those individuals when the time of his departure from this world was near. So this happened seven years after the Battle of Uhud. Therefore, whoever argues from this narration that it is not permissible to offer the funeral prayer at the grave after seven years, it will be proven from this that this "salat" was actually a supplication for the deceased, not the funeral prayer, even if this is against the position of the one who claims that the hadith scholars transmit narrations which they do not understand, and they mention things which they do not comprehend, and transmit contradictory narrations.