Is it recommended to make the rows for the funeral prayer three, and are they equal in virtue?

Scholars differed concerning the preference for the first row in the funeral prayer. Some Shafi'i scholars held that the three recommended rows are equal in virtue, lest people turn away from the back rows. Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami mentioned that this applies to those who arrive first, but for those who arrive after everyone has formed rows, the first row is more virtuous for them.

The jurists cited as evidence for the recommendation of the three rows the hadith narrated by Malik ibn Hubayrah from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "There is no Muslim who dies and three rows of Muslims pray over him except that [Paradise] becomes obligatory for him." And Malik used to divide the congregants into three rows based on this hadith.