6 – The prohibition of niyāḥah (ritual wailing)

Niyāḥah includes: raising the voice in lament, tearing one’s garment, slapping the cheeks, pulling out the hair, blackening or scratching the face in anguish over the deceased, crying out “woe” and the like—anything that signals discontent with Allah’s decree and a lack of patience. All of this is forbidden and ranks among the major sins. In the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever strikes the cheeks, tears the clothes, and calls with the cries of the Age of Ignorance is not one of us.” They also relate that he ﷺ declared, “I disown the sāliqah, ḥāliqah, and shāqqah.” The sāliqah is the woman who raises her voice when calamity strikes; the ḥāliqah is the one who shaves her head in grief; and the shāqqah is the one who rips her clothes in grief. Muslim likewise reports that he ﷺ “cursed the nāʾiḥah and the one who listens to her,” that is, the woman who deliberately goes to hear the wailing and finds it pleasing.

Therefore, dear Muslim sister, you must avoid this prohibited conduct when a misfortune occurs. Be patient and seek Allah’s reward, so that the calamity becomes an expiation for your sins and an increase in your good deeds.

Allah the Exalted says: “We shall certainly test you with something of fear and hunger and loss of wealth, lives, and fruits; but give glad tidings to the patient—those who, when disaster strikes them, say, ‘Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.’ They are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy, and it is they who are rightly guided.” (al-Baqarah 155–157)