Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Uthman ibn Affan and Abdullah ibn Umar and Abu Hurayra used to pray over the dead, both men and women, in Madina. They would put the men nearer to the imam and the women nearer to the qibla.
أَنَّ عُثْمَانَ بْنَ عَفَّانَ وَعَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عُمَرَ وَأَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ كَانُوا يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى الْجَنَائِزِ بِالْمَدِينَةِ الرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاءِ فَيَجْعَلُونَ الرِّجَالَ مِمَّا يَلِي الإِمَامَ وَالنِّسَاءَ مِمَّا يَلِي الْقِبْلَةَ