What Is the Correct Way to Perform the Funeral Prayer?
Four takbirs standing, with no ruku‘ or sujud: al-Fatihah after the first, salah upon the Prophet ﷺ after the second, supplication for the deceased after the third, and the salam after the fourth.
Where there is a genuine difference of opinion, it is named as such rather than smoothed over.
The evidence
It is a communal obligation (fard kifayah) — if some perform it, the obligation is lifted from the rest.
The Prophet ﷺ said whoever attends the funeral until the prayer has one qirat of reward, and whoever attends until the burial has two, each like a great mountain (Sahih al-Bukhari 1325).
For a child, the supplication after the third takbir asks that the child be a precedent and a reward for the parents.
In practice
- Learn the supplication after the third takbir; it is the substance of the prayer.
- The prayer may be performed in absentia on the view of several scholars where circumstances require.
- Stay for the burial; the reward doubles per the hadith.
The measure of an article like this is whether anything about tomorrow is different. Choose the one line that applies to you.
Go deeper. Thousands of answers, searchable by topic and reviewed before publication, are at Islamic Q&A — qa.hisnulmuslimapp.com.
Hisnul Muslim
The Fortress of the Muslim — authentic supplications for every moment of the day and night, with Arabic, transliteration, translation and references.
More in Prayers/Salaat
View all →
Is It Permissible to Combine Prayers While Travelling?
Yes — the majority of scholars permit combining Dhuhr with ‘Asr and Maghrib with ‘Isha while travelling, and it is authentically established from the Sunnah.
What Is the Ruling on Missed Prayers From Years of Not Praying?
Scholars differ. The majority hold that missed prayers are made up; a significant group holds that prayers abandoned deliberately cannot be made up and require sincere repentance and abundant voluntary prayer instead.
Is It Obligatory to Pray in Congregation at the Masjid?
For men, the majority of scholars hold it strongly emphasised, and a significant group holds it obligatory. All agree it carries twenty-seven times the reward of praying alone.
How Do I Pray if I Cannot Stand?
Pray sitting; if you cannot sit, lying on your side; if you cannot, then by indication. The obligation does not lift, only the form changes.