❖ Ruling on Nīyāḥah (Wailing Over the Deceased) in Light of Authentic Aḥādīth ❖
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Question:
What is the ruling on nīyāḥah (wailing) over the deceased?
Answer:
The Ummah is unanimous that nīyāḥah — lamenting over the dead with wailing, uttering words of jāhiliyyah, or invoking destruction — is harām.
✿ Evidence from Authentic Aḥādīth
① Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ليس منا من لطم الخدود، وشق الجيوب، ودعا بدعوى الجاهلية.
“He is not from us who slaps the cheeks, tears the clothes, and calls with the calls of jāhiliyyah.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1294)
② Sayyidunā Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رضي الله عنه said:
إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم برئ من الصالقة والحالقة والشاقة.
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared himself free from the woman who wails loudly, shaves her head, or tears her garment.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1296)
- Ṣāliqa: the woman who wails.
- Ḥāliqa: the one who shaves her head at the time of calamity.
- Shāqqa: the one who tears her clothes at the time of calamity.
③ Sayyidah Umm ʿAṭiyyah رضي الله عنها said:
أخذ علينا النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم عند البيعة أن لا ننوح.
“The Prophet ﷺ took a pledge from us at the time of bayʿah that we would not wail.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1306; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 936)
④ Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
اثنتان فى الناس هما بهم كفر ؛ الطعن فى النسب والنياحة على الميت.
“Two practices in people are acts of disbelief: slandering lineage and wailing over the dead.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 67)
⑤ Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما narrated an incident where the Prophet ﷺ wept at Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah’s illness and clarified:
إن الله لا يعذب بدمع العين ولا بحزن القلب ولكن يعذب بهذا … وأشار إلى لسانه … إن الميت يعذب ببكاء أهله عليه.
“Allah does not punish for tears of the eye or grief of the heart, but He punishes for this (and he pointed to the tongue). Indeed, the deceased is punished because of his family’s wailing over him.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1304; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 924)
✿ Additional Reports of Prohibition
- From ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه (al-Bukhārī 1292; Muslim 927)
- From ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما (al-Bukhārī 1286; Muslim 927)
- From al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah رضي الله عنه (al-Bukhārī 1291; Muslim 933)
- From Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī رضي الله عنه (Muslim 934)
- From Abū Umāmah al-Bāhilī رضي الله عنه (Muslim 922)
- From Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه (Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1585, ḥasan chain)
- From Umm Salamah رضي الله عنها (Musnad al-Bazzār: 7513, ḥasan chain)
✿ Scholarly Consensus
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Mulaqqin رحمه الله (804H) said:
النوح حرام بالإجماع، لأنه جاهلي.
“Wailing is harām by consensus, for it is a practice of jāhiliyyah.”
(al-Tawḍīḥ: 9/533)
Conclusion:Wailing, loud lamenting, tearing clothes, shaving the head, striking the face, or invoking destruction at the time of death are harām practices rooted in jāhiliyyah. Simple crying without wailing is permissible, but exaggerated actions and utterances are strictly prohibited.
