Ruling on Standing for a Passing Funeral and Its Abrogation
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Standing for a Passing Funeral: A Practice That Was Later Abrogated
What is meant here is the act of standing up upon seeing a funeral pass by. This was initially commanded, as proven by the following evidences:
◈ Evidences Supporting the Earlier Practice of Standing:
➊ It is narrated from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إذا رأيتم الجنازة فقوموا…
“When you see a funeral, stand up…”
📚 [Bukhari: 1310; Kitāb al-Janā’iz: Bāb man Tabiʿa Janāzah fa-lā Yaqʿud ḥattā tuḍaʿ]
➋ Narrated by Jābir رضي الله عنه:
A funeral passed by, and the Prophet ﷺ stood for it. So we also stood.
We said, “O Messenger of Allah! It is the funeral of a Jew.”
He ﷺ replied:
إذا رأيتم الجنازة فقوموا لها
“When you see a funeral, stand up for it.”
📚 [Bukhari: 1311; Kitāb al-Janā’iz: Bāb man Qāma li-Janāzah Yahūdī, Muslim: 960, Aḥmad: 3/319, Abū Dāwūd: 3174]
➌ It is narrated from ʿĀmir bin Rabīʿah رضي الله عنه that the Prophet ﷺ said:
إذا رأيتم الجنازة فقوموا لها حتى تخلفكم أو توضع
“When you see a funeral, stand up for it until it passes you or is placed down.”
📚 [Bukhari: 1307; Kitāb al-Janā’iz: Bāb al-Qiyām lil-Janāzah, Muslim: 958, Abū Dāwūd: 3172, Tirmidhī: 1042, Nasā’ī: 4/44, Ibn Mājah: 1542, Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār: 1/486, Bayhaqī: 4/25, Aḥmad: 3/445]
Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله states that this act of standing has been abrogated.
📘 [Ahkām al-Janā’iz: p. 100]
Imams Mālik, Abū Ḥanīfah, and Shāfiʿī رحمهُم الله also held this view.
📘 [Nayl al-Awṭār: 3/23]
❖ Evidences Indicating Abrogation (نسخ):
➊ It is narrated from ʿAlī رضي الله عنه:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أمرنا بالقيام فى الجنازة ثم جلس بعد ذلك وأمرنا بالجلوس
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ initially commanded us to stand for the funeral, then he began sitting and commanded us to sit as well.”
📚 [Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2818, Aḥmad: 1/82, Muwaṭṭaʾ: 1/232, Abū Dāwūd: 3175, Ibn Mājah: 1544]
➋ A funeral passed by Ḥasan and Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما.
Ḥasan stood, but Ibn ʿAbbās did not.
Ḥasan asked, “Did the Prophet ﷺ not stand for it?”
Ibn ʿAbbās replied:
قام وقعد
“He stood and then sat.”
📚 [Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Nasā’ī: 1816; Kitāb al-Janā’iz: Bāb al-Rukhsah fī Tark al-Qiyām, Aḥmad: 1/200, Nasā’ī: 1925]
❖ Scholarly Opinions
Some scholars do not consider these narrations as abrogating, but rather as allowing both options:
✔ Standing is recommended
✔ Sitting is permissible
Among those who held this view are Ibn Ḥazm and Imām Nawawī رحمهما الله.
📘 [Nayl al-Awṭār: 3/23, Sharḥ Muslim: 4/34]
✅ Conclusion
✔ Initially, it was commanded to stand upon seeing a funeral procession
✔ This ruling was later abrogated, and the Prophet ﷺ sat down and instructed others to sit
✔ Major scholars like Mālik, Abū Ḥanīfah, and Shāfiʿī considered the abrogation to be definitive
✔ However, some scholars allow both actions, considering standing to be preferable but not obligatory
