Source: Shumara al-Sunnah, Jhelum
❖ Question:
What is the Shar‘i status of observing Chehlum (a gathering held on the 40th day after someone’s death)?
❖ Answer:
The observance of Chehlum is a reprehensible innovation (بدعت قبیحہ). Organizing gatherings forty days after someone’s death to commemorate, recite the Qur’an, or prepare elaborate meals is not part of Islamic teachings and is considered a bid‘ah (innovation).
❖ Scholarly Opinion:
📚 When asked about Chehlum, Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Baz رحمه الله stated:
“The origin of this practice is a Pharaonic custom that existed before the advent of Islam and spread among others thereafter. It is a reprehensible innovation with no basis in Islam. It is refuted by the statement of the Prophet ﷺ:
❝Whoever introduces something new in our religion that is not part of it, it will be rejected.❞_
[Fatawa Islamiyyah: 2/56]
❖ Summary:
✘ Holding gatherings on the 40th day after death,
✘ Refreshing grief,
✘ Organizing Qur’an recitations,
✘ And arranging food for attendees —
All of these are un-Islamic innovations, and have no foundation in the Qur’an, Sunnah, or the practice of the Companions.
