How authentic is the Hadith that mentions that prayer will be at the believer's head, fasting to his right, and zakat to his left?
The hadith was narrated by Abd al-Razzaq and Ibn Abi Shaybah from Abu Hurayrah as mawquf (stopped at a Companion), and it was narrated as marfu' (traced back to the Prophet) by Ibn Hibban, al-Tabarani, al-Hakim, and others with the same isnad: "Indeed, when the deceased is placed in his grave, he hears the sound of their sandals as they turn away from him. If he was a believer, then the prayer will be at his head..." Al-Hakim authenticated it, and al-Dhahabi agreed with him.
Regarding Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Alqamah, one of the narrators of the hadith, Abu Hatim and al-Nasa'i said about him: "His hadith may be written down," and "There is no harm in him." Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar summarized his status by saying: "Truthful, but has delusions." Meanwhile, the authors of Tahrir Taqrib al-Tahdhib concluded that he is "truthful, with good hadith." Al-Albani leaned towards the hadith being hasan (good), and this is what a group of scholars inclined to, such as al-Haythami and the verifiers of al-Ihsan and Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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