Walking in front of the bier

Salim bin Abdullah bin Umar narrates from his father (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Umar (may Allah be pleased with him); they all walked in front of the funeral.

Salim (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from his father (may Allah be pleased with him): "I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) walking in front of the funeral." (Ali bin al-Madini said:) So I stood up and went to him (Sufyan) and said: O Abu Muhammad, Ma'mar (may Allah have mercy on him) and Ibn Jurayj (may Allah have mercy on him) differ with you on this, meaning that they narrate the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as mursal. He said: Al-Zuhri was firm on it; he narrated it to me, I heard it from his own mouth, repeating it over and over, from Salim from his father. I said to him: O Abu Muhammad, Ma'mar and Ibn Jurayj say in it: 'and Uthman.' He confirmed what they said and said: Perhaps he did say it and I did not write it down, because at that time I was inclined towards the Shi'ah.
The Shaykh (al-Bayhaqi) said: There is disagreement on Ibn Jurayj and Ma'mar about whether this hadith is connected: it has been narrated from each of them connected (mawsul) and also mursal, and it has also been said: from Ibn Jurayj, from Ziyad bin Sa'd, from al-Zuhri.

Imam al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Salim narrates from his father that he saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) walking in front of the funeral.
However, Bakr did not mention Uthman. Only Hammam narrated it (in this way), and he is thiqah (trustworthy). There is disagreement on Uqayl and Yunus bin Yazid about it: from each of them it is said to be from al-Zuhri connected (mawsul), and also mursal. The one who connected it, remained firm on connecting it, and about whom there is no disagreement on it, is Sufyan bin Uyaynah, who is a proof and trustworthy. And Allah knows best.

Rabi'ah bin Abdullah bin al-Hudayr said that he saw Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) sending the people ahead in front of the funeral of Sayyidah Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her).

Abu Hazim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I saw Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah and Sayyiduna al-Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both); they were walking in front of the funeral.

Sa'd bin Tariq al-Ashja'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I said to Abu Hazim (may Allah have mercy on him): Do you remember any funeral that jurists and imams took part in? He said: Yes, I saw Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) walking in front of it until it was set down.

Ubayd, the freed slave of al-Sa'ib (may Allah be pleased with him), said: I saw Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) and Ubayd bin Umayr both walking in front of the funeral. Then they went ahead, sat down and began talking, and when it drew near them, they stood up.

Ibn Abi Dhi'b narrates from Salih, the freed slave of al-Taw'amah, that he saw Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), Abu Usayd al-Sa'idi (may Allah be pleased with him) and Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) walking in front of the funeral.

Ziyad bin Qays al-Ash'ari said: I came to Madinah and saw the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (may Allah be pleased with them) from the Muhajirun and the Ansar walking in front of the funeral.