Women following to the cemetery

18-9-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

What does Islam say about women following or going to the cemetery with the funeral?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

The majority of the Muslim eminent scholars dislike that women follow a funeral or attend it. The evidence for this is a Hadith narrated in the Sahihain from Umm Atiya (Radiya Allahu Anha) who said: "We were told not to follow funerals but it was not an obligatory matter on us" . The scholars believe that this means that it is not prohibited for women to follow funerals or attend them. But it is dislikeable for them to do so.
Some scholars believe that it is lawful for women to attend funerals and follow them. This is the Madhab of the people of Medina. Their evidence for this is the Hadith reported from Abu Shaiba (Radiya Allahu Anhu) that "The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) was attending a funeral when Umar (Radiya Allahu Anhu) saw a woman and shouted at her. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said to him: 'Leave her alone. O Umar " .
So, we believe that the most sound opinion is that it is dislikeable for women to follow the funerals.
Allah knows best.