[Roxanjbra]

contd...


I said, “59 H. This shows that Abu Hurayra lived for 50 years after this incident. Now you prove to me that Hadrat Abu Hurayra offered the Funeral prayer in absentia for even one man in this duration.”

Infuriated, he answered, “If Abu Hurayra does not act upon a Hadith, then should we also abandon it?”

I responded, “It seems as if your understanding of Hadith and acting upon Hadith, both are superior to Hadrat Abu Hurayra.”

He said, “Imam Bukhari was such a great Muhaddith. He has written a chapter based on this Hadith on Funeral prayer in absentia.”

I said, “Absolutely untrue. Imam Bukhari has not written a chapter on this.” I presented him with Bukhari Sharif and said, “See! Where is it written?”

He said, “I had heard this from my teachers”. Then he added that this Hadith is also narrated by Hadrat Jabir besides Abu Hurayra.

I said, “Very true. This Hadith is in Sahih Muslim and Hadrat Jabir passed way in Madina 70 years after this incident in 79H. During this long period of 70 years, can you prove that Hadrat Jabir offered Funeral prayer in absentia for even one person?

He said, “What if he failed to understand the purport of the Hadith?”

I asked, “And no Sahaabi explained to him either?”

If Sir had been around at that time, then he could have taught the meanings of Hadith to the Sahaba.

He said, “This Hadith is narrated by Hadrat ‘Imran ibn Husayn also.”

I said, “Absolutely true. Hadrat ‘Imran ibn Husayn lived for 43 years after this incident. He was Qadi of Kufa and passed away in 54H in Basra. In those 43 years, even he did not offer Funeral prayers in absentia for anyone.”

He said, “O Allah! How strange that these people who were Companions did not act upon the Hadith.”

I answered, “This way of thinking is leading you astray. The truth is that the Sahaaba had a proper understanding of the Hadith because they knew the complete issue at hand.

Hadrat ‘Imran ibn Husayn clarified the matter:

‘We did not imagine other than that the bier was in front of the Prophet.’ (Ahmad)

In Ibn Hibban, ‘The Sahaaba did not imagine except that the bier was in front of the Prophet.’

In Abu ‘Awana the words are as follows: “We did not look except that the bier was in front of us.’

So, we understand that the Sahaaba did not offer the funeral prayer of Al Najjashi believing it to be ghaaib, rather they believed that it was in front of Rasulullah and some Sahaaba saw it too. This is because the bier was present and the Companions also considered it so. That is why they never offered Funeral Prayer in absentia.

to be contd.......