The Ruling on Lamenting over the Dead and Slaughtering an Animal upon Success

Question:
There are some villages in the southern region that are steeped in bid'ah (religious innovations) and misguidance, and they are ignorant of much of the Islamic Shari'ah. For example, when a person dies, they lament over him at the top of their voices, or if someone succeeds, they slaughter an animal for him because of his success. What is Your Eminence's opinion on this, and what is your advice?

Answer:
The da'wah workers throughout the Kingdom, praise be to Allah, call people to Allah and teach them good in all parts of the Kingdom, and they call them to good. It is the duty of scholars and students of knowledge to call people and teach them; this is the obligation of the da'wah workers and the obligation of the people of knowledge. As for lamenting over the dead, this is a sin. Lamenting over the dead and raising one's voice over the dead is lamenting that is a sin and must be abandoned. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade lamenting over the dead, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Lamenting is not permissible. As for slaughtering an animal when someone succeeds in an exam to honor him and honor the students with him or the people of the house, this is a major form of shirk (associating partners with Allah). Slaughtering for a traveler or for a guest when the guest arrives, or slaughtering for a child, these are acts of drawing near to Allah, not a major form of shirk. So if one slaughters for a guest to honor the guest, or if a blessing befalls him, such as succeeding in his exam, and he honors his family with a slaughtered animal, or his colleagues, and he provides them with a slaughtered animal and honors them, this is a believer who slaughters for other than Allah. This is not of that [shirk]; this is from ignorance. He made this a form of shirk; this is from ignorance. Yes. Do they not say that it is supplication? Despite the fact that much of this ignorance is based on this. May Allah grant you success. Yes, yes. They pray for him, if Allah wills. And the report, if it is known that they pray for him, we have been informed about this man. Write to us about him so that we may know that they pray for him in Jizan or elsewhere. Supplication is widespread in Jizan, in Abha, and throughout the south. So the report, if someone comes and informs us about this man, it has become dominant. Yes.