What is prescribed in condolence and what is not prescribed
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
We take a call from our brother Ibrahim. Go ahead, my brother Ibrahim, from al-Hawtah. Good evening, Professor 'Abd al-Karim, and good evening regarding the matter of Shaykh Salih. Peace be upon you, go ahead. I have a question, young men. Go ahead. I have a question; I want the Shaykh to give advice now. For example, these days, during the condolence gatherings at people's homes, when someone asks others to prepare food for the family of the deceased, there is sometimes an argument among some of the people present. It gets into the subject of oaths. For example, one person says, "I will provide the lunch," and the second person says, "I will provide the dinner." So they make oaths. What is Shaykh Salih's guidance regarding people like these who know that the time of condolence is a time of sadness, not like eating food and such, yet they start making oaths? The question, Ibrahim, I thank you.
Answer:
My brother, the basis of condolence is prescribed because it involves comforting the bereaved and making du'a' for the deceased. You do this by saying, "May Allah improve your consolation, may Allah heal your affliction, and may Allah forgive your deceased."
Likewise, preparing food is to the extent of the need of the family of the deceased. Prepare food for them to the extent of their need. As the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, when Ja'far ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred in the Battle of Mu'tah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered his family to prepare food for them to the extent of their need. As for exaggerations, setting a specific number of days like three days, suspending work, sitting for condolences, and having slaughters from every direction, with each person having a day, and the like of these exaggerations, burdens, and additions to what is required and what is prescribed?
What is required is not to feed those who come and gather. The Sunnah is to feed only the family of the deceased. This is the Sunnah. For this reason, some of the Companions said, "We considered gathering at the home of the deceased and preparing food to be part of wailing." The Companions considered that to be part of wailing.
And today, many people have expanded greatly in this matter, and it has gone beyond being a condolence to being burdens and losses[Al-A'raf 7:71]. Yes.
We take a call from our brother Ibrahim. Go ahead, my brother Ibrahim, from al-Hawtah. Good evening, Professor 'Abd al-Karim, and good evening regarding the matter of Shaykh Salih. Peace be upon you, go ahead. I have a question, young men. Go ahead. I have a question; I want the Shaykh to give advice now. For example, these days, during the condolence gatherings at people's homes, when someone asks others to prepare food for the family of the deceased, there is sometimes an argument among some of the people present. It gets into the subject of oaths. For example, one person says, "I will provide the lunch," and the second person says, "I will provide the dinner." So they make oaths. What is Shaykh Salih's guidance regarding people like these who know that the time of condolence is a time of sadness, not like eating food and such, yet they start making oaths? The question, Ibrahim, I thank you.
Answer:
My brother, the basis of condolence is prescribed because it involves comforting the bereaved and making du'a' for the deceased. You do this by saying, "May Allah improve your consolation, may Allah heal your affliction, and may Allah forgive your deceased."
Likewise, preparing food is to the extent of the need of the family of the deceased. Prepare food for them to the extent of their need. As the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
Prepare food for the family of Ja'far. For they have been afflicted with what occupies them.
اصنعوا لآل جعفر طعاما. فإنهم أتاهم ما يشغلهم.What is required is not to feed those who come and gather. The Sunnah is to feed only the family of the deceased. This is the Sunnah. For this reason, some of the Companions said, "We considered gathering at the home of the deceased and preparing food to be part of wailing." The Companions considered that to be part of wailing.
And today, many people have expanded greatly in this matter, and it has gone beyond being a condolence to being burdens and losses
for which Allah has not sent down any authority
مَّا نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَانٍ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 1780 - ما يشرع في العزاء وما لا يشرع - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.