Q: If a man is sitting in the public road and a funeral procession passes by him, should he stand up or remain seated?

A: If a funeral passes by someone who is sitting and he is not among those who are following it, then he has two options: either to stand until it goes past him, and in this case he will be rewarded for that, Allah willing; or he may remain seated. The matter is open to choice because it was authentically reported from (Part No. 7; Page No. 367) the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he did both options. This is the opinion of Imam Ahmad, Is-haq, and Ibn Habib and Ibn Al-Majishun and these two latter scholars belong to the Maliki Madh-hab (School of Jurisprudence). This is also supported by what was recorded by Al-Bukhari, and Muslim on the authority of `Amir ibn Rabi`ah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he said: Whenever you see a funeral procession, stand up until the procession goes past you. In another narration by them on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) from `Amir ibn Rabi`ah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he said: If any of you sees a funeral procession and he is not following it, then he should stand up and remain standing until he goes past it, or it goes past him, or until the coffin is put down before it goes past him. As for those who claim that the command to stand up is abrogated, like Imam Malik and Abu Hanifah, this was commented on by Al-Nawawy who said that abrogation exists only when there is a difficulty to combine both rulings. However, it is possible to combine them in this case. He added that the opinion he is inclined to is that it is Mustahab (desirable) to stand up.In addition, there is no authentic evidence forbidding standing when there is a funeral procession passing by. Hence, the fact that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sat down after his command for people to stand up in such a situation is proof of the permissibility of sitting. (Part No. 7; Page No. 368) May Allah grant us success. May Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and his Companions!