Fatwa ID: 03040

Answered by:  Shaykh Umer Khan​

Question:

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

Does anybody have the Dalaa'il of Ahnaaf reading thana instead of Fatiha in Janazah salah compiled?

Answer:

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Along with the Ḥanafīs and the Mālikīs, many scholars adopted the view that neither sūrah al-Fātiḥah nor any other part of the Qur'ān is recited in the janāzah prayer. This view is based on a variety of evidence:

It is reported that ʻAbdullāh bin Masʻūd was asked about reciting Qur'ān in janāzah prayer. He said, "The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ has not specified for us any statement or any recitation in it" (ʻUmdatu al-Qārī, 8/141; Awjazu al-Masālik, 4/231).

It is reported that ʻAbd al-Raḥmān bin ʻAwf and Ibn ʻUmar said, "There is no recitation of Qur'ān in the janāzah prayer". (Awjazu al-Masālik, 4/231).

Ibn Abī Shaybah narrated in his Muṣannaf, from Abū Zubayr that Jābir said, "The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ did not fix for us any specific recitation upon the deceased. Abū Bakr and ʻUmar also did not make anything specific". (Awjazu al-Masālik, 4/231).

It is reported that ʻAmr bin Shuʻayb from his father from his grandfather stated that it is narrated from thirty companions of the Prophet ﷺ that they did not establish any fixed recitation in the janāzah prayer (Awjazu al-Masālik, 4/231).

It is reported that Abū al-Minhāl said, "I asked Abū al-ʻĀliyah about the recitation of sūrah al-Fātiḥah in the janāzah prayer". He said, "Sūrah al-Fātiḥah is read-only in those prayers where it is rukūʻ and sujūd’. (Awjazu al-Masālik, 4/231).

Many companions of the Prophet ﷺ held this position, including Ibn ʻAwf, ʻUmar, ʻAlī, Ibn ʻUmar, and Abū Hurayrah. Many successors to the companions also held this position. Ibn Mundhir states that this is also the opinion of Mujāhid, Ḥammād, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Imām Mālik, Imām Abū Ḥanīfah and the scholars of Kūfā.

Imām Mālik said, "The recitation of surah al-Fātiḥah in the janāzah prayer is not practised by those in our city (of Madīnah)". (ʻUmdatu al-Qārī, 8/139).

Imām Malik also mentioned the narration of Abū Hurayrahin al-Muwaṭṭa' showing that Abū Hurayrah himself read the janāzah prayer and did not recite sūraal-Fātiḥah. (al-Muwaṭṭa', p.209).

Imām Mālik also narrated from Nāfiʻ that ʻAbdullāh bin ʻUmar did not recite any part of the Qur'ān (i.e. sūrah al-Fātiḥah or any other sūrah) in the janāzah prayer. (al-Muwaṭṭa', p.210).

Only Allah knows best

Written by Shaykh Umer Khan

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham