Using the misbaha (prayer beads)
Question: What is the ruling on carrying a misbaha for the purpose of reminding its owner to remember Allah?
Answer: If someone adopts a misbaha believing that using it is a meritorious act and that it is a means of remembering Allah, then this is a blameworthy innovation. If, however, he uses it simply as a permissible object, or to count things he needs to keep track of, then that is allowed. But to take it as a religious practice and a means of drawing closer to Allah is one of the newly invented innovations. When a person wishes to recite tasbih, he should glorify Allah and count the praises on the joints of his fingers—that is what is proper. As for taking up the misbaha on the assumption that it has special virtue, as some Sufis and their followers believe—so you see many of them carrying large strings of beads and hanging them around their necks—this is an unfounded innovation and also falls under showing off. Allah knows best.
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Holding funeral gatherings
Question: In our town here in Sudan, when someone dies a mourning gathering (ma’tam) is arranged for him and carpets are spread out for more than three days. Is it permissible to set up such seating for the deceased, and how should we offer condolences for their loss, knowing that they lay out these carpets in the house of the deceased? Is it allowed for the neighbours to bring food and drink to the family of the deceased as a way of sharing in their calamity?