Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 1021 [Read full issue]
Weeping for the Dead
In our time, there are evil young men who attack the imams of fiqh under the pretext of defending the hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him), although the fuqaha never abandoned the Sunna nor did they undervalue any hadiths whose attribution and text is sound. All that they do is to uncover faults in some transmissions and refute them according to the approved scholarly method and, by doing so, guide the community to truer words and a straighter path. In following this method they emulate the Companions and Tabiun. Look at the position of Aisha, peace be upon her, when she heard the hadith that a dead person is punished for his family's weeping for him. She rejected it and swore that the Messenger had not said it. In clarifying her denial of it, she said, "So where do you stand in respect of the words of Allah, 'No burden-bearer bears the burden of another'? (6:164)" She rejected that which was contrary to the Quran with boldness and confidence. In spite of that, this hadith rejected by Aisha is still confirmed in some collections.
In the Tabaqat, Ibn Sad repeats it with weak isnads. He says: "Thabit reported to us from Anas ibn Malik that when Umar ibn al-Khattab was stabbed, Hafsa wailed. He said, 'Hafsa, did you not hear the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "The one who is wailed for is punished"?' Suhayb wailed and Umar said, "Suhayb, do you not know that the one who is wailed for is punished?""
Ibn Abi Mulayka said, "A daughter of Uthman died in Makka and we came to attend to her. Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbas were present and I was sitting between them. Abdullah ibn Umar said to Amr ibn Uthman, 'Will you not forbid the women to weep? The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A dead person is punished by the weeping of his family for him."' Ibn Abbas said, "Umar used to say something like that and when he died, I mentioned it to Aisha and she said, "May Allah have mercy on Umar! By Allah, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not say that a dead person is harmed by his family's weeping for him." She said, "The Quran is enough for you: 'No burden-bearer bears the burden of another.'"' Upon hearing that, Ibn Abbas remarked, "Allah is the One who makes people laugh and makes them weep," meaning that weeping of those who are bereft is natural and there is nothing wrong with it and no blame for it. Ibn Abi Mulayka said, "By Allah, Ibn Umar did not say anything!" Indeed an error is not impossible for a narrator, even if he is as venerable as Ibn Umar.
Compiled From:
"The Sunna of the Prophet" - Muhammad al-Ghazali