Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

This is absolute rubbish. When we beat ourselves or wail, it is not for gaining anything, but it is respect to remember our prophet`s (saw) family who sacrificed themselves for our religion ISLAM. When we take time out and gather on the day of Ashura, this is to pay respect. Think, when your loved ones die, don`t you perform rituals when certain days, months, years have passed. If gatherings can be attended then, so why not in Ashura? I advise you stop brainwashing people, and review your knowledge of Islam.

Regards.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Wailing and matam

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Dear and beloved Sister in Islam, it has always happened that when one is born and brought up believing a certain belief or practice is good, meritorious, and acceptable in Sight of their Creator….and they find someone challenging their belief or their practice even with evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah, some amongst them refuse to accept the guidance and insist on following the ways of their forefathers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 170-171:

When it is said to them, “Follow the Commands that Allah has sent down”, they reply, “We will follow only what we found our forefathers practising.” Well, will they go on following their forefathers even though they did not use common sense and did not find the Right Way! The mental condition of those who rejected the way of Allah may be likened to that of the cattle whom the shepherd calls but they hear nothing except the sound of shouts and cries. They are deaf, they are dumb, they are blind; therefore they do not understand anything.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 34 Surah Saba verse 43:

When Our clear Revelations are recited to these people, they say, “This person only wants to turn you away from those deities whom your forefathers have been worshipping.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 43 Surah Zukhruf verse 22-25:

Nay! But they say, “We found our forefathers on a way and we are only walking in their footsteps.” Even so, whenever before you We sent a warner to a habitation, its people of means said, “We have found our forefathers on a way and we are only following in their footsteps.” Every Prophet asked them, “Will you still go on following the same old way even if I guide you to a more right way than that you found your forefathers following?” They replied, “We disbelieve the religion with which you have been sent.” Consequently, We took vengeance on them. Just consider what was the end of those who denied.

Thus my beloved sister, ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ or ‘truth’ and ‘falsehood’ cannot be determined by what one has been taught and brought up since childhood, or what one finds one’s loved ones and forefathers believing and following….but the ‘truth’ and the ‘falsehood’ can only, and we reiterate only be determined through the two divine sources of guidance: the very Words of the Lord Creator in the Glorious Quran, and the practice of the Last and Final Messenger of Allah (saws).

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 185:

Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was sent down: this Book is a Perfect Guidance for mankind and consists of clear Teachings which show the Right Way, and are a Criterion of the Truth and falsehood.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 31-32:

O Prophet, tell the people, “If you sincerely love Allah, follow me. Then Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, for He is All Forgiving, All Merciful.” Also say to them, “Obey Allah and His Messenger.” And if, in spite of this, they do not accept your invitation, warn them that Allah does not love those, who refuse to obey Him and His Messenger.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 21:

There is indeed the best example for you to follow in the Messenger of Allah, for every such person looks forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.

Thus my respected sister, for any act to be regarded as worship in the Sight of Allah Subhanah, it is absolutely imperative that that act be endorsed by Allah and His Messenger (saws).

Your Statement: When we beat ourselves or wail, it is not for gaining anything, but it is respect to remember our prophet`s (saw) family who sacrificed themselves for our religion ISLAM. When we take time out and gather on the day of Ashura, this is to pay respect.

The Prophet’s (saws) beloved uncle Hadrat Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib (r.a.) was mercilessly martyred and his body was mutilated along with 70 other noble companions on the fateful day of the Battle of Uhud. The Messenger of Allah (saws), as hurt and as pained as he was at what had transpired, gave the martyrs a honorable burial and as guided by Allah Subhanah, did not mourn for more than three days.

What needs to be determined is:

1. Did the Messenger of Allah (saws) ever wail or permitted the believers to wail at the death of his beloved uncle and the seventy martyrs?
2. Did the Messenger of Allah (saws) beat himself, or do ‘matam’, or sing ‘nohas’, etc.?
3. The Messenger of Allah (saws) lived for almost seven years after the Battle of Uhud; but is there even an iota of evidence that the Messenger of Allah (saws) appointed or nominated the day of Uhud to be commemorated, or remembered, or wailed, etc. every year?

Beloved Sister, when the Messenger of Allah (saws) did not practice wailing, nor nominated the Day of Uhud to be commemorated every year, nor gathered the believers every year to commemorate the severe afflictions that befell on that fateful day…..then it should be obvious to any believer who looks at Prophet Mohamed (saws) as their perfect example that such gatherings, and wailings, and beatings, and ‘matams’, and ‘nohas’, and commemorations, and rites and rituals of remembrance of afflictions, etc. are neither part of the deen of Islam, nor are such acts acceptable or have any merit in the Sight of Allah Subhanah whatsoever.

Not only did the Noble Messenger of Allah (saws) not endorse such practices of wailing and beating oneself when afflicted with a calamity, but the Prophet (saws), time and time again, guided and commanded the believers to abstain from such self-invented and unlawful practices!

Sahih Muslim Hadith 2033 Narrated by Abu Malik al-Ash'ari

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: “Among my people there are four characteristics belonging to pre-Islamic period of ignorance which they do not abandon: 1. boasting of high rank, 2. reviling other peoples' genealogies, 3. seeking rain by stars, and 4. wailing. And he (further) said: If the wailing woman does not repent before she dies, she will be made to stand on the Day of Resurrection wearing a garment of pitch and a chemise of mange.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said in an authentic narration “He is not a believer, who beats his face, or tears his clothes, or wails, when afflicted by a misfortune.”

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2829 Narrated by Hadrat Ali ibn AbuTalib (r.a.)

Hadrat Ali (r.a.) heard Allah's Messenger (saws) curse those who took usury, those who paid it, those who recorded it, and those who refused to give sadaqah. And he (saws) used to prohibit wailing.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3122 Narrated by AbuSa'id al-Khudri

The Messenger of Allah (saws) cursed the wailing woman and the woman who listens to her.

Umm 'Atiyyah reports: "The Messenger of Allah (saws) made us pledge that we will not wail over (the dead)" (Bukhari and Muslim).

Al-Bazzar has transmitted, at the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Two sounds are accursed in this world and in the hereafter: the sound of wind instruments (to celebrate) good fortune, and of moaning aloud when afflicted with a misfortune."

Your Question: Think, when your loved ones die, don`t you perform rituals when certain days, months, years have passed.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.257 Narrated by Zainab bint Um Salama

That Um-Habiba (r.a.), the wife of the Prophet (saws) said that she heard the Prophet (saws) say, "It is not lawful for a lady who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for more than three days except for her husband for whom the (mourning) period is four months and ten days."

There is absolutely no evidence that the Messenger of Allah (saws), his noble family, or any of his noble companions ever gathered people at the house of the deceased after a certain number of days (9, 10, 11, 40, etc.) to make dua, or recite the Glorious Quran, or perform the ‘tasbeeh’, or enjoy a feast in the name of the deceased! Without an iota of a doubt, such commemorations are no more than innovations which have unfortunately crept into the pure and perfect deen of Islam; and the believers who sincerely fear Allah and the Last Day must strive to absolutely abstain from all such innovations.

Sahih Muslim Hadith 1885 Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah

That the Prophet of Allah (saws) said in a sermon: “The best speech is that which is embodied in the Book of Allah, the Al Quran; and the best guidance is the guidance given by me, Mohamed (saws). The most evil affairs are the innovations (bida), and every innovation (bida) is an error.”

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 4515 Narrated by Ali ibn AbuTalib

That the Prophet of Allah (saws) said: “If anyone introduces an innovation (bida in religion), he will be responsible for it. If anyone introduces an innovation (bida) or gives shelter to a man who introduces an innovation (bida), he is cursed by Allah, by His Angels, and by all the people!”

My dear and respected Sister in Islam, if after all the evidence which has been presented to you, you still believe that the yearly gatherings, wailing, beatings, ‘matam’s, etc. on the day of Ashura are lawful in Shariah or have any acceptance in the Sight of Allah Subhanah…..we humbly request you to give us even only one evidence from the authentic and established Sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (saws) ever himself wailed or endorsed the annual wailing and beating of oneself at the death of any of his noble family members or companions!

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan