Dear Islamic sisters! If somebody dies, so on this occasion, many acts contrary to Shari’ah are committed sometimes. One of them is lamentation [نَوحَہ], i.e. to weep loudly by exaggerating the attributes of the deceased. It is also called wail [بَین]. There is a consensus that it is Haraam. Similarly, bewailing, crying loudly saying ‘Oh! Woe’, tearing the front upper part [of the shirt etc.], scratching face, untying [the braid of] hair, putting dust on the head, beating chest, beating thighs are all acts of ignorance and are Haraam. It is prohibited to weep with a loud voice; however, there is no prohibition if the sound does not get loud. (Bahar-e-Shari’at, vol. 1, pp. 854, 855)

Sometimes while weeping over the death of a person, people become extremely impatient and start making complaints to Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ and by committing such acts they utter statement of un-belief which destroys their faith.

Mourning more than three days

On the occasion of someone’s death, one of the non-Shar’i acts is to mourn for more than three days, which is Haraam. Before the advent of Islam in Arab, a widow used to live in a bad house, wear a bad dress and live separately from entire family members for a year after the death of her husband. (Mirat-ul-Manajih, vol. 5, pp. 151) Thus, she used to mourn for a year, but after the advent of Islam, the Beloved Rasool صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم fixed the mourning period to three days upon the death of other relatives except the husband[1], whereas the wife will observe the period of ‘Iddat’ at the death of her husband for four months and ten days. However, it is permissible for a woman to observe mourning for three days upon the death of any of her close relatives (other than husband); more than this is not permitted. (Rad-dul-Muhtar, vol. 5, pp. 223)

When the Beloved Rasool صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم ended this practice of pre-Islamic era of ignorance, blessed Sahabiyyat رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ تَعَالٰی عَـنْهُـنَّ started acting upon the blessed saying of the Beloved Rasool صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم and this wrong tradition came to an end.