‘Ali said, “We saw God’s messenger stand up so we stood up; he then sat down and we sat down,” the reference being to a funeral.
Muslim transmitted it. The version of Malik and Abu Dawud says, “He stood up for a funeral, then sat down afterwards.”(There is some doubt as to whether this means that he sat down after the funeral had passed, or whether the point is that the Prophet’s practice had been to stand up but that he later stopped doing so. Cf. the tradition from ‘Ali on p. 353)
Jabir said that when a funeral passed by God’s messenger stood up and they stood up along with him. They told him it was a Jewish funeral and he replied, “Death is a fearful event, so when you see a funeral stand up.”
Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “If anyone attends the funeral of a Muslim out of faith and seeking a reward from God, and stays till prayer is offered and the burial is complete, he will return with a reward of two qirats, each qirat being equivalent to Uhud (The qirat is a small weight, a twentieth, or twenty-fourth of a dinar. Here it is used somewhat figuratively. The statement that it is equivalent to the hill Uhud is a way of expressing that the reward will be very great); and if anyone prays over the dead and returns before the burial, he will come back with one qirat.”
He reported God’s messenger as saying, “When you see a funeral stand up; but anyone who follows it must not sit down till the bier is placed on the ground.”
