Explanation of the Hadith: The Dead Person Is Punished by the Crying of His Family

Question:
May Allah reward you. A message from Algeria from the questioner A. A. He says: I hope for an explanation of the hadith, the meaning of which is that are rewarded?

Answer:
The hadith is authentic, and it contains the prohibition of crying over the dead person, meaning raising the voice in wailing. As for mere crying without wailing and without raising the voice, this does not harm, because it is not within a person's ability to prevent it. What is forbidden is raising the voice in crying and wailing, and displaying distress over the dead person. This is what is prohibited, and the dead person is punished because of this. However, the scholars differed regarding the nature of the punishment.
Is it according to its apparent meaning, that the dead person is punished because wailing is forbidden, and one is punished for what is forbidden? How is he punished when he did not do this, and it is not his action? They said, and Allah knows best, that this is the one who bequeaths before his death that they should wail over him, because they used to bequeath this in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. The poet said: "When I die, make me weep as I deserve, and tear your chest, O mother of Ma'bad." This is a bequest. So if he bequeaths this, he is punished because he was pleased with what is wrong. It was also said that the meaning of the punishment is pain; that the dead person is punished, meaning he feels pain and distress at what is wailed over him, and he is not pleased with it.