Chapter: The prohibition of niyāḥah (wailing) over the deceased, slapping the cheeks, tearing the collar, plucking or shaving the hair, and crying out “woe and ruin.”

1657 – ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The deceased is tormented in his grave because of the wailing performed over him.” In another wording: “for what is wailed over him.” Agreed upon.

1658 – Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “He is not one of us who slaps the cheeks, tears the garments, and calls with the cries of the Age of Ignorance.” Agreed upon.

[Commentary]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—states in his book Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn: “Chapter on the prohibition of niyāḥah over the deceased.” Niyāḥah is crying—specifically, lamenting the dead with a prolonged, shrill tone like the cooing of doves. Crying over the dead is of two kinds:

1. The kind that is dictated by natural emotion; there is no harm in this and the servant is not reproached for it. Among its examples is what took place with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a child was brought to him and the child’s breath was rattling as though inside a waterskin. The Prophet wept, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, out of compassion for the child who was struggling with death. Al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis then said to him