Where does the bereaved receive condolences for the deceased?

The questioner : The correct view is that it is done at the place of condolence.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : Where does the bereaved receive condolences for the deceased? Is it at the grave, or is it in the house, even though they are all sitting there for the condolence gathering?

The Shaykh : There is no specific place for condolences, and it is not permissible to sit to receive condolences, nor to stand to receive them. All of this is among the newly invented matters. Condolences are like congratulations; they have no specific place and no specific time. Rather, all of this should occur without any pretense or affectation. I believe that the beginning of departing from the Sunnah in the matter of condolences is when the bereaved person sits in his house and neglects his affairs. He may be a business owner, a factory owner, a shopkeeper, or an employee. The mere fact that someone has passed away means he stays in his house and sits to receive condolences from those who offer them. The error begins here. We believe that when a person is struck by the loss of a dear one and has buried the deceased, he should return to the state he was in before; that is, to his work, his factory, his home, his office, his library, or whatever else it may be. If he begins this natural course, then there will be no sitting [for condolences], and the condolences will come spontaneously. For example, this man is in his office, and you meet him and know that he has lost a dear one, so you offer him condolences. You see him in the mosque, you offer him condolences. You see him on the road, you offer him condolences. If neither of these opportunities arises, you go to him at a time when he is usually and regularly at home, not because he has adopted a special routine due to the condolence. Thus, condolences do not have any of these characteristics. This is the answer to that question.