THE DEFINITION OF FUNERAL PRAYER

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ISTINBATH METHOD OF IMAM ASY-SYĀFI’I AND AṬ-ṬABĀRI

Abstract

The funeral prayer was performed without bowing (ruku‘) and prostrating (sujud), resulting in differences in defining the funeral prayer, including between Imam al-Syāfi'ī and Ibn Jarīr aṭ-Ṭabarī. This study aims to answer two research questions: 1) what is the definition of funeral prayer according to al-Syāfi‘ī and Ibn Jarīr aṭ-Ṭabarī? 2) which are the istinbat methods used by both of them? This study is a normative legal research with a comparative approach. In this study, the authors used library research methods.. The results of this study indicate that Imam al-Syāf''ī and the majority of scholars interpret the word ‘prayer’ in ḥaqīqī meaning, and they say the funeral prayer is the same as any other prayer. Meanwhile, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr aṭ-Ṭabarī interprets the word ‘prayer’ at the funeral prayer in a majāzī manner. According to him, a funeral prayer is just a form of prayer because is no bowing and prostration in its implementation. As a result, ablution (wuduk) is not an obligation that must carry out before carrying out the funeral prayer.