The Sunnah in Condolences, Its Timing, and Its Ruling by Telephone
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says: What is the Sunnah, O Shaykh, in offering condolences? Is it sufficient to offer condolences over the telephone? And when do condolences begin?
Answer:
Condolences begin from the death of the deceased, from the moment his soul departs, and they continue for three days, because after three days they forget the calamity, so do not renew it for them. Condolences are made through supplication: supplication for the deceased for forgiveness if he was a Muslim, and supplication for the living to be compensated for the calamity. You say, “May Allah compensate you for your calamity and forgive your deceased.” So it is done verbally, in writing, by telephone or mobile phone, and this is sufficient. It is done by meeting him: if you meet him, you greet him and offer your condolences. Yes.
The questioner says: What is the Sunnah, O Shaykh, in offering condolences? Is it sufficient to offer condolences over the telephone? And when do condolences begin?
Answer:
Condolences begin from the death of the deceased, from the moment his soul departs, and they continue for three days, because after three days they forget the calamity, so do not renew it for them. Condolences are made through supplication: supplication for the deceased for forgiveness if he was a Muslim, and supplication for the living to be compensated for the calamity. You say, “May Allah compensate you for your calamity and forgive your deceased.” So it is done verbally, in writing, by telephone or mobile phone, and this is sufficient. It is done by meeting him: if you meet him, you greet him and offer your condolences. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/147 — archive.org (9:15)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.