And He has said in His Revelation:
“O Prophet, when believing women come to you pledging that they will not associate anything with Allah, will not steal, will not commit adultery, will not kill their children, will not bring a calumny they have fabricated between their hands and feet, and will not disobey you in what is right—then accept their pledge and pray for Allah to forgive them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” 1

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ explained the phrase “and will not disobey you in what is right” as a prohibition of wailing.

He also disowned the ḥāliqa and the ṣāliqa. The ḥāliqa 2 is the woman who shaves her hair at a calamity, while the ṣāliqa is the one who raises her voice in shrieking lament.

Jarīr ibn ʿAbd Allah said, “We used to regard gathering at the house of the deceased and their preparing food for the people as a form of wailing.”

The Sunnah, rather, is that food be prepared for the family of the deceased, for their bereavement occupies them. When the Prophet ﷺ announced the martyrdom of Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib at Muʾtah he said, “Prepare food for the family of Jaʿfar, for something has come to them that preoccupies them.” 3

Likewise, the acts performed by some people on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ—such as applying kohl, dyeing with henna, exchanging handshakes, or bathing—are innovations with no basis; none of the well-known imams ever mentioned them. The only narration on the matter says, “Whoever bathes on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ will not fall ill that year, and whoever applies kohl on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ will not suffer eye inflammation that year,” and the like.