There is a custom among many people that when one of them dies, some of the neighbors or acquaintances of the family invite the family of the deceased and prepare cooked slaughtered animals.

The questioner : May Allah reward you. The questioner says: There is a custom among many people that when one of them dies, some of his neighbors or acquaintances of the family invite the family of the deceased and prepare cooked, ready-to-eat slaughtered animals, which they serve to them and to whoever attends their gathering. They say that this is not a gathering but merely feeding people. What is the ruling on this practice?

The Shaykh : By Allah, feeding people is not a problem if it is truly feeding people and they are sincere, distributing it to the houses. But they gather the people. And I say, as Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The latter part of this Ummah will not be reformed except by what reformed its first part". Did the Salaf always do this? The most common thing is that those who gather at the home of the deceased are like the case of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when the news of the death of Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, who was the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) cousin, reached him. When the news of his death reached him, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his family: . Food in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was not easily available for everyone; it was not easily available for everyone. These people were preoccupied with their calamity and unable to prepare food for them, so he said, "Prepare food for them, for something has come to them that occupies them." This is a matter of assistance, not food prepared for a condolence gathering, but food intended to help the bereaved to feed people, because something has come to them that occupies them. Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ever attend this food at the house of Ja'far? No. Did any of the relatives of the Prophet, or any of the relatives of the family of Ja'far, attend, as far as we know? No. But people today have great feasts; they slaughter a sheep or two sheep, here.

The questioner : Eight, fifteen.

The Shaykh : Eighteen sheep, feasts. This comes in and that goes out, until if you pass by the mourning gathering—scholars call this a mourning gathering—until if you pass by the mourning gathering, you say, "This is a wedding party." Lights are on, chairs are set up, this comes in and that goes out. Then they buy verses of Allah for a small price. They bring someone to recite the Qur'an voluntarily, voluntarily, or for a fee? For a fee. And the strange thing is that this person who recites the Qur'an for a fee sins by taking a fee for the Book of Allah, and the deceased does not benefit from it, because this recitation was exchanged by the reciter for a worldly price. And whoever does a deed of the Hereafter for the sake of this world, his deed is nullified. Allah the Exalted said: . So if the deed of this reciter is nullified, where is the benefit? It is a financial loss without benefit, and a religious loss for this reciter.
Now, if this compensation comes from the deceased's wealth and among them are minors, this falls under the category of consuming the orphan's wealth, if the deceased was their father, in consuming the wealth of orphans. What is it? But, my brothers, our problem as Muslims is that when people become accustomed to something, it is difficult for them to turn away from it, and they consider it a right when it is actually invalid. This is one of the greatest losses for a person: to do something invalid while believing it to be a right. From whom? And although this is mentioned regarding disbelievers, whoever strays in his effort in matters less than disbelief, while he thinks he is doing well, has a resemblance to their actions. Therefore, my advice to Allah the Exalted and to my Muslim brothers is to abandon these matters. And when a person is struck by a calamity, he should say what the patient ones say: What is it? He should return the praise to Allah and say, "O Allah, reward me in my calamity and replace for me something better than it." If he says that with faith, Allah will reward him in his calamity and replace for him something better than it. I will tell you a story that clarifies the truth of this hadith. Abu Salama (may Allah be pleased with him) died, and his wife was Umm Salama, his cousin's daughter, and he was among the people she loved most. When Abu Salama died, she grieved for him. She had heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: She said (may Allah be pleased with her), "I said that, believing in the words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but her mind was occupied, saying: Who is better than Abu Salama? Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, so-and-so, so-and-so. She was considering in her mind who would be better than Abu Salama. She said that without doubt, because she knew that what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said would certainly happen, but she was thinking about who would be better. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) married her after Abu Salama, and he was better than Abu Salama, and Allah is better. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said when he entered upon Abu Salama and his eyes had become fixed, his gaze fixed due to the departure of his soul, so he closed his eyes and said: Glory be to Allah. When a person dies, he sees his soul leaving his body, so his gaze becomes fixed looking at it. May Allah make the ending good for me and for you. Then he closed his eyes and said: How many camels? Five camels. By Allah, they weigh the entire world. If the entire world were weighed against them, the world would be outweighed. Something in the world that was realized and seen by people, which he replaced in his aftermath, became better in his aftermath than the best of people, and that is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And the four camels, we hope that Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, has realized them for Abu Salama (may Allah be pleased with him). We must have patience and seek reward from Allah in calamities, and follow in that the path of the righteous predecessors. The end of this community will not be rectified except by what rectified its beginning. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah reward you. The questioner asks: Does working in mines permit breaking the fast in Ramadan?

The Shaykh : What?

The questioner : Does working in mines permit breaking the fast in Ramadan, and is it considered?

The Shaykh : Working in what?

The questioner : In mines.

The Shaykh : In mines?

The questioner : Mines.

The Shaykh : What does working in mines mean? Whoever knows it, explain it to us. Do you know it? Where is the questioner? You, working in mines, what are mines?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Working for your benefit.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, yes, complete the question, complete the question. What is it?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Read the question.