The Book of Friday Prayer, the Two Festivals, the Prayer for Rain, the Eclipse Prayer, and Funerals-07a
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The reciter: Ali ibn Hujr narrated to me, Ali ibn Mughirah narrated to us, from al-Shaybani, from Abu Burdah, from his father, who said: .
The Shaykh : His statement, "Woe to his brother," is a lamentation, a lamentation by which a person addresses the one being mourned. For this reason, Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the Alfiyyah: "Wa is for the one who is lamented". So "Wa" is used for lamentation. Suhayb said, "Woe to his brother," lamenting 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). There is no doubt that this lamentation was accompanied by weeping, because 'Umar cited as evidence his statement: "Indeed, the deceased is tormented by the weeping of the living." And a very serious form of lamentation has become widespread among people today, which is that they say, "Woe to Mu'tasim!" If this is intended to refer to the specific person, it is major shirk (associating partners with Allah) that expels one from the religion. If it is intended to refer to the category, it is less severe than that, but it is not permissible for us to consider such people superior to the Companions, or to the conquering Companions like 'Umar, and before him Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), or to what they call "Muhammad the Conqueror," while forgetting the early Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) who conquered more than these later ones and established the pillars of Islam more firmly than these later ones. There is no doubt that these later ones are praised for what they did, especially since their times were different. However, for us to forget the early ones and revive the memory of these later ones is certainly an error and a form of ignorance. So, the conclusion is that whoever says, "Woe to Mu'tasim," if he is calling out to the specific person, it is calling upon other than Allah, calling upon a dead person, seeking his aid, and it is major shirk (associating partners with Allah) that expels one from the religion. If he intends the category, it is less severe, but it is still prohibited, so that a man is not given more than his due and exaggerated about, to the point where his category is lamented in times of hardship. If we wanted to lament a category in times of hardship, we would lament one who is better than him, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). But we only turn in times of hardship to the One who is able to remove them, which is Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He).
When 'Umar was struck, Suhayb kept saying, "Woe to his brother!" So 'Umar said to him, "O Suhayb, do you not know that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Indeed, the deceased is tormented by the weeping of the living'?"
لَمَّا أُصِيبَ عُمَرُ جَعَلَ صُهَيْبٌ يَقُولُ: وَا أَخَاهْ، فَقَالَ لَهُ عُمَرُ: يَا صُهَيْبُ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: إِنَّ الْمَيِّتَ لَيُعَذَّبُ بِبُكَاءِ الْحَيِّThe Shaykh : His statement, "Woe to his brother," is a lamentation, a lamentation by which a person addresses the one being mourned. For this reason, Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the Alfiyyah: "Wa is for the one who is lamented". So "Wa" is used for lamentation. Suhayb said, "Woe to his brother," lamenting 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). There is no doubt that this lamentation was accompanied by weeping, because 'Umar cited as evidence his statement: "Indeed, the deceased is tormented by the weeping of the living." And a very serious form of lamentation has become widespread among people today, which is that they say, "Woe to Mu'tasim!" If this is intended to refer to the specific person, it is major shirk (associating partners with Allah) that expels one from the religion. If it is intended to refer to the category, it is less severe than that, but it is not permissible for us to consider such people superior to the Companions, or to the conquering Companions like 'Umar, and before him Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), or to what they call "Muhammad the Conqueror," while forgetting the early Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) who conquered more than these later ones and established the pillars of Islam more firmly than these later ones. There is no doubt that these later ones are praised for what they did, especially since their times were different. However, for us to forget the early ones and revive the memory of these later ones is certainly an error and a form of ignorance. So, the conclusion is that whoever says, "Woe to Mu'tasim," if he is calling out to the specific person, it is calling upon other than Allah, calling upon a dead person, seeking his aid, and it is major shirk (associating partners with Allah) that expels one from the religion. If he intends the category, it is less severe, but it is still prohibited, so that a man is not given more than his due and exaggerated about, to the point where his category is lamented in times of hardship. If we wanted to lament a category in times of hardship, we would lament one who is better than him, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). But we only turn in times of hardship to the One who is able to remove them, which is Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He).