Proofs in the Hanafi School & Why Hanafis do not Perform the Funeral Prayer away from the Dead Body

Question: What do Hanafi scholars say about the fact that the Prophet(s) prayed the funeral prayer for Ashama the king of Ethiopia, even though he was at Madina and the king had only died in Ethiopia that very day? This is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, for example.

Assalamu alaikum,

Imam Kamal ibn al-Humam explains in his masterly commentary on Imam al-Marghinani's al-Hidaya, Fath al-Qadīr (2: 117):

"As for the Prophet’s prayer (Allah bless him and give him peace) over Najasi [the Emperor of Ethipia, who died in Ethiopia], it was because the death bed was raised such that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) could seen it, in which case prayer behind him would be a prayer behind an imam who can see the dead body in front of him. The followers not seeing the dead body does not prevent following the imam in such a case. This, even though it is a possibility, there are (clear) indications in that which was transmitted towards it… The other interpretative possibility is that this was specific to al-Najashi... And many Companions (Allah be pleased with them) died on journeys… and battles… and among the dearest of people to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) were the Qur’an reciters [a large number of whom were killed in one expedition], but it is not reported that he prayed over them, even though he was avid to prayer over anyone who died of his companions…"

Ibn Abidin points out something important in his Sharh Uqud Rasm al-Mufti:

"Understanding evidences (dalil) is only (truly) possible for someone at the level of ijtihad (mujtahid), for it depends on knowing that the evidence is free of that which opposes it, which depends on having complete awareness of the primary sources, which is not possible for other than a mujtahid. As for merely knowing that a given mujtahid took a given ruling from a given set of evidences, it is of little consequence..." (Sharh Uqud Rasm al-Mufti, in Rasa'il Ibn Abidin, 1: 30)

Note that primary sources include the Qur'an and Sunnah, but also analogy (qiyas), which is a very sophisticated mechanism requiring great legal training, intuition and expertise. To understand the Qur'an and Sunnah, moreover, one needs to have thorough knowledge of the practice and sayings of the Companions of the Prophet and the early Muslims...

When one looks at the legal reasoning and proofs used by Abu Hanifa and his students, we can understand why Imam Abu Bakr al-Karkhi could say, with rightful confidence, "Every evidence that (seemingly) contradicts our school is either superceded or can be explained." (Usul al-Karkhi)

Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani