A custom fixed at twenty, thirty, or forty days after the death of the deceased
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The second question of Fatwa No. ( 14247 )
Q 2: We have a custom which is: if a person suffers a calamity, such as the death of one of his relatives or an accident happening to him, and days have passed since this calamity, people from among his relatives and others invite him, saying to him: "You have an obligation with us." If this person agrees to this invitation, he attends each time to the home of one of these people, and they host him by slaughtering a sheep or two sheep, and the people of the village gather for it, and so on until he finishes with the people who invited him to their homes to host him. They intend by this that it is obligatory upon them to host him because of the calamity that befell him. Is this permissible?
A 2 : If the invitation is not fixed after a specific number of days have passed since the death of the deceased, such as twenty days or forty days, and the intention is to honor him to console him for his loss, then that is not forbidden. However, if it is a custom fixed at twenty, thirty, or forty days after the death of the deceased, then this is a religious innovation (bid'ah). As for feeding the family of the deceased while they are preparing for their funeral and occupied with it, that is a recommended practice (sunnah); due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan ad-Daraqutni 8:37 narrated by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim . And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q 2: We have a custom which is: if a person suffers a calamity, such as the death of one of his relatives or an accident happening to him, and days have passed since this calamity, people from among his relatives and others invite him, saying to him: "You have an obligation with us." If this person agrees to this invitation, he attends each time to the home of one of these people, and they host him by slaughtering a sheep or two sheep, and the people of the village gather for it, and so on until he finishes with the people who invited him to their homes to host him. They intend by this that it is obligatory upon them to host him because of the calamity that befell him. Is this permissible?
A 2 : If the invitation is not fixed after a specific number of days have passed since the death of the deceased, such as twenty days or forty days, and the intention is to honor him to console him for his loss, then that is not forbidden. However, if it is a custom fixed at twenty, thirty, or forty days after the death of the deceased, then this is a religious innovation (bid'ah). As for feeding the family of the deceased while they are preparing for their funeral and occupied with it, that is a recommended practice (sunnah); due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Prepare food for the family of Ja'far, for something has come to them that occupies them.
اصنعوا لآل جعفر طعامًا فإنه قد أتاهم ما يشغلهم
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.