The Ruling on Sitting for Condolences and Holding Funerals for That Purpose

Question:
He says: We have a custom here that when one of our people dies, we sit for a few days on the days of the death, eating and drinking, and sometimes they give money and gifts. What is the ruling on this?

Answer:
It is not permissible for the family of the deceased to prepare food for people in the case of the calamity of death. It is not permissible for the family of the deceased to prepare food for the gathering; no, this is from the practices of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. However, if their relatives and neighbors prepare food for them and send it to them, that is better. They prepare food and send it to them because they are occupied with the death and the calamity. It is established that when the news came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) that Ja'far ibn Abi Talib had passed away on the day of Mu'tah, he ordered his family to prepare food for the family of Ja'far, saying: . So the recommended practice (sunnah) is for the neighbors or relatives to send food to the family of the deceased. As for the family of the deceased doing this, preparing the food and gathering the people, no, this is not prescribed (mashru'), rather it is from the practices of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali (may Allah be pleased with him), the noble Companion, said: .
But if food comes to them and they invite their neighbors or guests to eat, there is nothing wrong with that. The food that comes to them from their neighbors and relatives, if their neighbors or guests eat with them, there is nothing wrong with that. Yes.