Question:
A person who does not attend the Janazah prayer in the mosque but instead goes directly to the burial ground. What is the ruling for such a person?
Answer:
First, we must understand the status of the Janazah prayer itself. The Janazah prayer is Fard Kifayah, a communal obligation. This means that the responsibility lies upon the community as a whole. If a group of Muslims performs it, the obligation is lifted from the rest of the community.
This is different from the five daily prayers or the Jumu’ah prayer. Those are individual obligations and accountable upon every Muslim. The Janazah prayer is not like that.
If no one in the community performs the Janazah prayer for the deceased, then the entire community shares the sin. But if some people perform the prayer, the obligation is fulfilled and the rest of the people are not sinful.
Therefore, if someone does not attend the Janazah prayer at the mosque and instead goes directly to the graveyard, he is not considered sinful. The obligation has already been fulfilled by those who prayed.
However, this does not mean that nothing is lost. What such a person misses is a tremendous reward.
The Prophetﷺexplained this reward very clearly. He said that whoever attends the Janazah prayer will receive one Qirāt of reward, and whoever remains until the burial is completed will receive two Qirāts.
The companions then asked the Prophetﷺ ﷺ, “What is a Qirāt?”
He replied that it is like a huge mountain.
So the ruling is clear. The person who goes directly to the burial place is not sinful. But by missing the Janazah prayer, he has lost an enormous reward that could have been equal to mountains.