Abu Malih went out to a funeral, and when the rows were straightened, the people thought he was about to begin the prayer with the opening takbir. Instead, he turned to them and said, "Straighten your rows so that your intercession may be excellent. If I were to choose any man, I would choose this one, but Abdullah bin Sulayt narrated to me from one of the Mothers of the Believers, namely Maymunah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'There is no Muslim over whom a community of people prays the funeral prayer except that their intercession for him is accepted.'"The narrator said, I asked Abu Malih about the size of this community, and he replied, "Forty."
حدثنا أبو عبيدة عبد الواحد الحداد قال حدثنا
أن أبا المليح خرج على جنازة فلما استوى ظنوا أنه يكبر فالتفت فقال استووا لتحسن شفاعتكم فإني لو اخترت رجلا لاخترت هذا إلا أنه حدثني عبد الله بن سليط عن إحدى أمهات المؤمنين وهي ميمونة أن رسول الله ﷺ قال ما من مسلم يصلي عليه أمة من الناس إلا شفعوا فيه قال فسألت أبا المليح عن الأمة فقال أربعون