The Duration of Mourning

Q: Janaa'iz-110: For how long can the family of the deceased mourn? During this period, is there any harm in them reciting the Kalimah or completing a recitation of the Qur'aan without engaging in any customs and without regarding it to be necessary or Sunnah? Will this be regarded as an act of Bid'ah?

Answer: The heirs of a deceased may mourn for three days and a woman May mourn the death of a family member by abstaining from any form of beautification for three days only. It is only the wife of the deceased that should continue for four months and ten days. Fataawaa Aalamgeeri states that while it is permissible for a bereaved person to remain indoors for three days, it is best not to do so. Wailing is however not allowed at all.

Without regarding it to be necessary or Sunnah, it is permissible for the family of the deceased to gather together to recite the Kalimah or complete a recitation of the Qur'aan to confer the rewards to the deceased. However, it will not be permissible when it is done as a customary practice with a formal invitation and when people failing to attend are rebuked.

Fataawaa Bazzaaziyyah and Shaami explicitly state that it is Makrooh to practice the custom of preparing food on the first, third and seventh days after a funeral and taking the food to the graveyard. It is also Makrooh to gather pious people and people proficient in reciting the Qur'aan to recite the entire Qur'aan or parts of it such as Surah An'aam and Surah Ikhlaas.

The gist of it all is that it is Makrooh to attach importance to preparing food when completing the Qur'aan. The food is best given to the poor. Such practices should be shunned, especially when carried out for show and not to please Allaah.

Hadhrat Shah Abdul Azeez Muhaddith Dehlawi RAH. wrote that the Shari'ah of Hadhrat Muhammad SAW. does not favour the practice of attaching importance to the third, fifth and other days after a funeral. Doing so is Makrooh and it is best to carry out acts of Isaale Thawaab on days other than these.

Gathering to complete the recitation of the Qur'aan for Isaale Thawaab is therefore permissible on condition that it is not a customary practice, not done for show, done without specifying a day or done without invitation to a meal and without compulsion. And Allaah knows best what is most correct.

Fatawa Rahimiyyah vol.3