Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 1477
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، وَهِشَامُ بْنُ عَمَّارٍ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْمُسَيَّبِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " أَسْرِعُوا بِالْجِنَازَةِ فَإِنْ تَكُنْ صَالِحَةً فَخَيْرٌ تُقَدِّمُونَهَا إِلَيْهِ وَإِنْ تَكُنْ غَيْرَ ذَلِكَ فَشَرٌّ تَضَعُونَهُ عَنْ رِقَابِكُمْ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah and Hisham ibn Ammar narrated to us; they said: Sufyan ibn Uyaynah narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Hasten with the funeral procession. If the deceased was righteous, you are bringing him swiftly to goodness; if he was otherwise, you are relieving yourselves of an evil burden.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source gives both alternatives as the reason to hasten the procession: bringing the righteous deceased forward to good or relieving oneself of the other burden.