Ruling on holding feasts after the burial of the deceased, and on the takbir and wailing

Question:
His final question asks: Is it permissible to set up a gathering for the deceased after his burial? Because there are some old customs where they set up, and sit for three days, and some for seven days...

The Shaykh: Repeat.

The presenter: Is it permissible to set up a gathering for the deceased after his burial? Because there are some old customs where they set up, and sit for three days, and some for seven days, and at that time they give money at the condolence gathering, and they record names and bring slaughtered animals, and after that the shaykhs and the Druwish come, and they recite the takbir and wail, and they call it the takbir for the deceased, and they say: the one who does not eat from the condolence gathering does not love the deceased. What is supposed to be done after the burial of the body? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
As for the "setting up," the questioner did not clarify what the "setting up" is; he did not clarify it. The Sunnah regarding the deceased, once the burial is finished, is to pray for him for forgiveness and steadfastness. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he finished burying the deceased, would stand over him and say: . It is not permissible to build over his grave, nor to make a mosque over his grave; rather, it is obligatory that it be left like this in the open, exposed to the sun, with no building over it. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the Jews and the Christians for making mosques over graves.
So it is obligatory that the graves remain like this, with no building over them. It was forbidden to plaster them, to sit on them, or to build over them. As for the condolence gathering, where the people of the deceased slaughter animals, invite people to them, and they gather over them for three days or more; this is a religious innovation from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and it is not permissible.
As for what is recommended, it is that food be sent to them; food is sent to the people of the deceased from their neighbors and relatives during the days of death; because they are occupied with the calamity, so there is nothing wrong with that.
And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when the news of the death of Ja'far ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) came, when he was killed at Dumat al-Jandal in the Levant, and the news of his death came to Madinah; he ordered his family to prepare food for the people of Ja'far. He said: . So if their neighbors or relatives prepare food for them and send it to them in their houses; this is prescribed and there is nothing wrong with it. And if they invite to it those who eat with them from their neighbors; because it is a lot of food, and they invite to it those who eat it with them, there is nothing wrong.
As for the people of the deceased preparing the food and slaughtering animals and inviting people, this is a religious innovation and an abomination, and from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. And so is the wailing, the shouting, and the empty talk that they do on the occasion of the deceased; it has no basis. And Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We used to consider gathering with the people of the deceased and preparing food after the burial to be wailing." He considered it to be wailing among the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
So what is prescribed for the people of the deceased is patience and seeking reward, and that they use what Allah has prescribed of patience and seeking reward, and saying: . And the Sunnah for their relatives and neighbors is that they send them food at the time of the calamity, the first day or the second or the third... it has no limit. And there is no harm in inviting some of their neighbors or relatives; to eat with them from the food sent to them. As for them preparing food themselves and slaughtering animals, or confining themselves in the house because of the calamity, no, this is not from the matters of Islam, but it is from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. So the bereaved person has the right to go out, and he has the right to go to his needs and to his farm and to his other needs. And if he sits for some of the usual time; to greet those who visit him for the condolence, there is nothing wrong with that. And if they greet him on the road, or in the cemetery before the burial or after the burial, all of that is fine, on the road, in the mosque, in the cemetery, before the burial, after the burial, in his house; all of that is permissible. And it is not obligatory for him to remain in the house, nor is it prescribed for him to remain in the house confining himself for that. May Allah guide them all. Yes.

The presenter: O Allah, amen.