What is the ruling on announcing a death in the front pages of major newspapers and paying money for that?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
'Abd al-Malik Maim says: Some families rush to announce the death of a deceased person in the front pages of major newspapers, and sometimes in more than one newspaper, for the sake of showing off and the like, along with the excessive effort involved in the large amounts of money they pay. Is this permissible? And what is your advice to those families? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
Announcing the death of a deceased person and publicizing it, if it leads to a benefit such as making du'a for him, attending his funeral, or praying over him, is a prescribed matter. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) announced the death of the Negus (may Allah have mercy on him) on the day he died and prayed over him as an absent person. Announcing the death of the Negus means informing of his death so that people would make du'a for him and attend the prayer for the absent person over him. However, if the announcement is made out of grief, boasting, or exaggeration, then it is not permissible.
The presenter:
The matter hinges on the intention.
The Shaykh:
It depends on the reality of people and their purpose in this announcement, as well as the manner of the announcement, which should not involve exaggeration or praise of the deceased's attributes. Rather, one should only announce that he has died so that people may make du'a for him or pray over his funeral. If he has debts owed to someone, they may attend to collect their debts. So, if sincerity in announcing the death of the deceased leads to a benefit, there is no harm in it, but it must be done in a manner that involves no exaggeration or boasting. Yes.
The presenter:
If it involves boasting and exaggeration, it is forbidden.
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh:
It may be forbidden, or it may be disliked.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
'Abd al-Malik Maim says: Some families rush to announce the death of a deceased person in the front pages of major newspapers, and sometimes in more than one newspaper, for the sake of showing off and the like, along with the excessive effort involved in the large amounts of money they pay. Is this permissible? And what is your advice to those families? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
Announcing the death of a deceased person and publicizing it, if it leads to a benefit such as making du'a for him, attending his funeral, or praying over him, is a prescribed matter. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) announced the death of the Negus (may Allah have mercy on him) on the day he died and prayed over him as an absent person. Announcing the death of the Negus means informing of his death so that people would make du'a for him and attend the prayer for the absent person over him. However, if the announcement is made out of grief, boasting, or exaggeration, then it is not permissible.
The presenter:
The matter hinges on the intention.
The Shaykh:
It depends on the reality of people and their purpose in this announcement, as well as the manner of the announcement, which should not involve exaggeration or praise of the deceased's attributes. Rather, one should only announce that he has died so that people may make du'a for him or pray over his funeral. If he has debts owed to someone, they may attend to collect their debts. So, if sincerity in announcing the death of the deceased leads to a benefit, there is no harm in it, but it must be done in a manner that involves no exaggeration or boasting. Yes.
The presenter:
If it involves boasting and exaggeration, it is forbidden.
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh:
It may be forbidden, or it may be disliked.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم نعي الميت على صدر الصفحات الكبيرة ودفع الأموال من أجل ذلك؟ الشيخ صالح بن فوزان الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.