It is Permissible to Offer the Absentee Funeral Prayer

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions. It is permissible to offer the funeral prayer on an absentee(i.e. a Muslim who died in another country). Hence, the Messenger of Allah(PBUH), and the companions offered the prayer upon An-Najaashi when he died in Abyssinia.{Bukhari and Muslim}. Therefore, it is permissible to offer this prayer on every Muslim who died in another country, and it was hard to attend his funeral even if funeral prayer was offered on him in that country. This is the opinion of the Shafii and Hanbali jurists. It was stated in the book "Moghni al-Mohtajj" , "It is permissible to offer the absentee prayer on a Muslim who died in another country even if that country wasn`t far. This is supported by the fact that the Prophet and his companions offered that prayer on Anajaashi when he died in Abyssinia{Bukhari and Muslim}. However, the Hanafi as well as the Maliki scholars consider this prayer impermissible. It was stated in Hashyat Al-Qalubi and other Shafii Hashyat, "Hardship is what counts: If it was hard to attend the funeral prayer because it was held in a distant place of the same country, then offering the absentee funeral prayer is valid. However, if there was no hardship, then it is invalid." Ibn Qodama, a Hanbali scholar, said-based on offering that prayer on Anajaashi-" We should follow the Prophet(PBUH) unless it was proven that this prayer {Absentee funeral prayer} pertains to him"{al-Moghni}. Al-Mardawi said, "This is the view of the majority of the fellow scholars."{Al-Ensaf}. In conclusion, offering the absentee funeral prayer is valid and permissible.