Fathwa - The Imaam stands by the chest of the dead man in funeral prayer

Question
Is there any proof from the authentic ahadith from the books of hadith
supporting: 1) Imam standing by the chest (swadr) of the mayyit in
janazah salaah and not (wast).
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad
isHis slave and Messenger.
We have not found any explicit Hadeeth stating that the Imaam should
stand in the funeral prayer by the chest of thedead, but what is
reported is that the Imaam stands by the head of a man [deceased male]
and by the waist ofa woman [deceased female]. Samurah ibn Jundub
narrated that a woman died in labor and the Prophet performed the
funeral prayer over her and he stood by her waist. [Al-Bukhaari,
Muslim and others]
Furthermore, it was reported that the coffin of a man was brought to
Anas and he stood by the head of the coffin, and then the coffin of a
woman was brought andhe stood further down the coffin than that, and
when he finished the funeral prayer, Al-'Alaa' ibn Ziyaad asked him: "
O Abu Hamzah, did the Prophet stand where you stood when it was the
funeral of a man and when it was the funeral of a woman like what
wesaw you doing?" He replied: "Yes." He (the narrator) said: "Then,
Al-'Alaa' ibn Ziyaad came to us and said: "Memorizethis. " [Ahmad and
others]
The scholars of the Hanbali School of jurisprudence who adoptthe
opinion that the Imaam should stand by the chest of the man, mentioned
this Hadeeth where it says that he stands by his head, and they said
that the two areas (of the body) are near to each other, so theone
standing by the headis considered to be standing by the chest;
IbnQudaamah said: " There is no difference of opinion in our School
that the Sunnah is that the Imaam stands in the funeral prayer by the
waist of the corpse of a woman and by the chest of the corpse of a man
or at the level of his shoulders….. " T hen he mentioned the Hadeeth
of Anas and the Shaafi'i School giving it as evidence for standing by
the head and then he said: "As regards the statement of those who say:
the Imaam should stand by the head of a man, then this statement is
not contradictory to the statement of those who say he should stand at
the level of his chest because they (the two parts of the body) are
near to each other; so theone who stands at one ofthem is considered
to be standing at the other. "
Allaah Knows best.

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