who had given her pledge of allegiance. She said, “Among the matters the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, required of us—those acts of righteousness in which he commanded us never to disobey him—was that we must not scratch a face, cry out ‘Alas!’ or the like, tear a garment, or dishevel our hair.” Reported by Abū Dāwūd with a sound chain of transmission.

1666 – Abū Mūsā, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whenever someone dies and a mourner stands over him saying, ‘Alas for my mountain! Alas for my chief!’—or words of that sort—two angels are appointed over him who prod him, saying, ‘Were you really like that?’” Reported by al-Tirmidhī, who graded it ḥasan. Al-lahz means to shove with the flat of the hand against the chest.

1667 – Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Two practices found among people are acts of disbelief: defaming lineage and wailing over the dead.” Reported by Muslim.

[Explanation]
All the narrations that Imām al-Nawawī, may Allah have mercy on him, cites here in Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn point to the prohibition of both niyāḥah (wailing) and nadb (lamenting) over the deceased. Niyāḥah is weeping with a shrill, piercing voice until it resembles the cooing of a dove, while nadb is the enumeration of the deceased’s virtues accompanied by sighs and expressions of grief.