—not by having people come to us from every direction, so that they may offer us merely outward consolation.

If the calamity is not forgotten through what Allah, Exalted is He, and His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, have commanded, then there is no good in it; such forgetfulness is merely a distraction, like the distraction of animals.

The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, said: “We used to regard preparing food and gathering at the home of the deceased as part of wailing.” (1) Wailing is among the major sins, for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Allah has cursed the woman who wails and the one who listens to her.” (2)

Some scholars have explicitly stated that this gathering is an innovation, even when it is free of matters prohibited by the Sacred Law.

It is disliked for them to prepare it for the people.

His statement, “It is disliked for them to prepare it for the people,” means that it is disliked for the family of the deceased to prepare food and invite people to it, because the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, “used to regard preparing food and gathering at the home of the deceased as part of wailing.”