Mishkat
al-Masabih

مشكاة المصابيح

05

Funerals

كتاب الجنائز

 

Chapter 7a: Weeping for the Dead - Section 1

البكاء على الميت - الفصل الأول

Mishkat al-Masabih 1724

‘Abdallah b. ‘Umar said that when Sa'd b. ‘Ubada complained of a trouble, the Prophet (ﷺ) came to visit him accompanied by ‘Abd ar-Rahman b. ‘Auf, Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas and ‘Abdallah b. Mas'ud. On entering and finding him in a bad way (Or, in a faint) he suggested that his end was near, but was assured that that was not so. The Prophet (ﷺ) wept, and when the people saw him weeping they wept also. He then said, "Listen; God does not punish for the tears the eye sheds or the grief the heart experiences, but He punishes for this (pointing to his tongue), or He shows compassion; and the dead is punished because of his family’s weeping for him."( Cf. the second tradition in section III where 'A’isha says Ibn ‘Umar has forgotten or made a mistake. This has given rise to much discussion and efforts have been made to show that the tradition of Ibn ‘Umar refers particularly to excessive weeping and wailing, or to the desire of pre-Islamic Arabs that people should lament them to an excessive extent when they died. The reference to the tongue indicates loud lamentation in contrast to silent weeping) (Bukharl and Muslim.)

وَعَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ: اشْتَكَى سَعْدُ بْنُ عُبَادَةَ شَكْوًى لَهُ فَأَتَاهُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَعُودُهُ مَعَ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَوْفٍ وَسَعْدِ بْنِ أَبِي وَقَّاصٍ وَعَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ فَلَمَّا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ وَجَدَهُ فِي غَاشِيَةٍ فَقَالَ: (قَدْ قَضَى؟ قَالُوا: لَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ فَبَكَى النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَلَمَّا رَأَى الْقَوْمُ بُكَاءَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَكَوْا فَقَالَ: أَلَا تَسْمَعُونَ؟ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُعَذِّبُ بِدَمْعِ الْعَيْنِ وَلَا بِحُزْنِ الْقَلْبِ وَلَكِنْ يُعَذِّبُ بِهَذَا وَأَشَارَ إِلَى لِسَانِهِ أَوْ يَرْحَمُ وَإِن الْمَيِّت لعيذب ببكاء أَهله