As for turning a calamity into formal mourning assemblies, or observing its anniversaries as recurring days of lamentation, this is not part of the religion of Islam. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never practiced that, nor did any of the first forerunners, those who followed them with excellence, the leading members of the Prophet’s household, or anyone else.

The household of ʿAlī witnessed his assassination, and those of al-Ḥusayn who were present witnessed his martyrdom. Many years have passed since then, and they have remained faithful to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: they did not institute mourning gatherings or wailing. Rather, they showed patience and recited the words of istiʿrjāʾ—“Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return”—as Allah and His Messenger commanded. At the moment the calamity occurred they might feel grief and shed tears, and this is unobjectionable.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whatever proceeds from the eye and the heart is from Allah, whereas whatever proceeds from the hand and the tongue is from Satan.” 1

He also said, “He is not one of us who strikes the cheeks, rends the collar, and cries out with the slogans of the Age of Ignorance.” 2 That is, the lament of the bereaved such as, “O my support! O my helper! O my strong arm!”

He further said, “If a wailing woman does not repent before she dies, she will be clothed on the Day of Resurrection in a shirt of scabs and a cloak of pitch.” 3

And he said, “Allah has cursed the wailing woman and the one who listens to her.” 4