1. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.)
wept on the death of his son Ibrahim.
The following narration has been
mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawood and Sunan
Ibne Majah:
Anas bin Malik reported that: The
Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) entered the room and we accompanied
him... And Ibrahim breathed his last. The eyes of Allah's Messenger
(S.A.W.) were filled with tears. Abdur Rehman Ibne Auf said: 'you
are weeping, O Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.)'. He (S.A.W.) replied:
"Ibne Auf, This is mercy". Then he (S.A.W.) said: "Our eyes shed
tears and our hearts are filled with grief, but we do not say
anything except that by which Allah is pleased. O, Ibrahim we are
sorrowful due to your separation."
And it is mentioned in Sunan Ibne
Majah that: Anas Ibne Malik says: When Ibrahim the son of the
Prophet (S.A.W.) died, he (S.A.W.) said: "Do not shroud him till I
have looked at him." Then he came forward in misery and wept.
In Sunan Tirmizi it is recorded
from Jabir Ibne Abdulla Ansari that:
The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.)
held the hand of Abdur Rehman Ibne Auf and took him to Ibrahim, his
son, when Ibrahim was in his last moments. The Messenger of Allah
(S.A.W.) took him in his lap and began to weep. Abdur Rehman Ibne
Auf said: 'you are weeping? And you had yourself prohibited
weeping?' The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) replied: 'No, but I had
prohibited two kinds of cries of foolish and sinful people: The cry
at the time of a calamity, and tearing at the face and the collar.
And the second is crying like Shaitan. And there is more in this
narration. Abu Isa says that this hadith is good.
2. The Messenger of Allah
(S.A.W.) wept for his Uncle Hamza (R.A.).
The books Tabaqat Ibne Saad,
Maghazi of Waqidi and Musnad Ahmed Hanbal mention the following
tradition:
After the Battle of Uhud, the
Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) passed by a house of Ansars. He heard
the wailing of the people for their martyred family members. The
eyes of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) filled with tears and he
began to weep. Then he (S.A.W.) said: "But there is no one to weep
for Hamza." When the ladies of the family of Sa'ad bin Muadh and
Usayd bin Huzayr al-Ashhal returned they told them to go and weep
for Hamza, the uncle of the Prophet (S.A.W.). Then from that time to
date none of the women of Ansar have wept for their dead ones before
weeping upon Hamza (R.A.).
3. The Messenger of Allah
(S.A.W.) wept for Jafar bin Abi Talib (R.A.).
Certainly you have in the Messenger of Allah an excellent
exemplar for him who hopes in Allah and the latter day and
remembers Allah much. |
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A narration recorded in the books
of Al-Istiab, Usud al-Ghaba, Al-Isabah and Ibne Athir etc that: When
Jafar was killed with his companions, the Messenger of Allah
(S.A.W.) came to his house and summoned his children. Then he
consoled them up and there were tears in his eyes. Asma, the wife of
Jafar said: May my parents sacrificed for you, you are crying? Shall
I tell you about Jafar and his companions?
"Yes", he replied the Messenger of
Allah (S.A.W.), "I am very sorrowful today."
Then Asma called and the women
gathered, and Fatima (S.A.) entered weeping and wailing, "O Uncle!".
The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.)
said: "A brave one like Jafar deserves to be wept upon."
4. The Messenger of Allah
(S.A.W.) wept for his mother at her grave.
Many books of traditions like Sahih
Muslim, Musnad Ahmed Hanbal, Sunan Abi Dawood, Sunan Nasai and Sunan
Ibne Majah mentioned the following tradition:
Abu Huraira says: "The Prophet
(S.A.W.) visited the grave of his mother and wept and made others
weep too."
5. The Messenger of Allah
(S.A.W.) wept for his grandson, Hussain (A.S.) on various occasions.
(i) Tradition of Ummul Fazl.
The first narration quoted by us is
recorded in Mustadrakul Sahihayn, History of Ibne Asakir and Maqtal
of Khwarizmi, other books also mention this incident.
Ummul Fazl the daughter of Harith
came to the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) and said: "O Messenger of
Allah (S.A.W.), I had a dream in which I saw that a piece of your
flesh flew off and fell into my lap. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.)
told her, "You have seen something good, by the will of Allah,
Fatima will give birth to a child and you will be present in the
house."
Later Fatima (S.A.) gave birth to
Hussain (A.S.) and Ummul Fazl was present, as the Prophet (S.A.W.)
had predicted. She placed Hussain (A.S.) in the lap of the Prophet
(S.A.W.), She said:
"Thus when I saw the Messenger of
Allah (S.A.W.) that his eyes were filled with tears. I said, 'O
Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.), may my parents be sacrificed for you,
why are you weeping?'.
He (S.A.W.) replied, 'Jibraeel came
to me and informed me that my people will soon murder this son of
mine.'
I asked, 'This son?'
'Yes', he (S.A.W.) replied, 'And he
gave me the red dust of his grave.'
Al-Hakim says, "This is an
authentic hadith according to the standards of Bukhari and Muslim,
but they have not included it in their collections."
(ii) Tradition of Zainab Binte
Jahash
A similar type of narration has
been presented in the books: Tarikh Ibne Asakir, Majmauz Zawaed,
Tarikh Ibne Kathir etc:
Zainab says: One day while Hussain
(A.S.) was in my house and near me at the staircase, and then I
became thoughtless. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) entered.... He
(S.A.W.) said, "Let him be (as he is). The Prophet (S.A.W.)
stretched out his hands while he was performing the prayers and took
Hussain (A.S.) to him. I said, "O Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.), I
have never seen you do this before?"
He (S.A.W.) said, "Jibraeel came to
me and informed me that this (Hussain) will be killed by my Ummat."
I requested him, "Then show me the dust of the land, where he will
be killed." And he gave me some red earth.
(iii) Tradition of Ayesha (R.A.)
Abi Salma has been recorded in
Tarikh Ibne Asakir, Maqtal Khwarizmi and Majmauz Zawaid to say:
Ayesha (R.A.) said: The Messenger
of Allah (S.A.W.) had seated Hussain (A.S.) upon his thigh when
Jibraeel came and asked, "Is this your son?"
"Yes", he replied.
Jibraeel said, "But your Ummat will
soon kill him after your demise."
The eyes of the Prophet filled with
tears.
Jibraeel said, "Would you like to
see the land where he shall be killed?"
"Yes", he replied.
Then Jibraeel showed him the fine
dust of his grave.
In another narration there is a
variation where Jibraeel is reported to have indicated towards Iraq
and took some red dust from it and showed it to him and said, "This
is the dust from his fatal battleground."
(iv) Tradition of Umm-e-Salma (R.A.)
Mustadrakul Sahihayn, Tabaqaat Ibne
Saad, Tarikh Ibne Asakir and other books have mentioned the
following tradition from Umm-e-Salma (R.A.):
The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) was
sleeping one night when he awoke with a start. He was in a state of
terror. Then again he went to sleep and once more woke up with a
start. This time he was more worried. Again he went to sleep and
woke up. In his hands was some red dust. He was turning it around in
his hands.
She said, "What is this dust, O
Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Jibraeel informed me that this
Hussain will be killed in the land of Iraq. I asked Jibraeel to show
me the dust of the land where he will be killed. And this is that
dust."
The Tradition of the Holy
Prophet (S.A.W.) regarding prohibition of weeping.
Sahih Muslim and Sunan Nasai record
the following traditions:
(i) Abdullah bin Umar reported that
Hafsa wept for Umar (when he was dying). He (Umar) said: Be quiet,
my daughter. Don't you know that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) had
said: "The dead is punished because of his family's weeping over
it?"
(ii) Umar reported Allah's Apostle
(S.A.W.) as saying: "The dead body is punished in the grave because
of wailing on it."
(iii) Ibne Umar reported: When Umar
was wounded he fainted, and there was a loud lamentation over him.
When he regained consciousness he said: Didn't you know that the
Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said: "The dead is punished because of
the weeping of the living?"
The tradition of Umar and his
son as explained by Ayesha (R.A.).
Let us consider the following
incident, which finds mention in the books of Sahih Bukhari and
Sahih Muslim:
Abdullah bin Abu Mulaika reports
Ibne Abbas as saying: When we came to Medina, it was before long
that the Commander of believers was wounded, and Suhaib came weeping
and crying: 'Alas for the brother, alas for the companion!' Upon
this Umar said: Didn't you know, or didn't you hear, that the
Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said: "The dead is punished because of
the lamentation of his family?"
Abu Mulaika says that he went to
Ayesha and told her of this. She said: I swear by Allah that Allah's
Messenger (S.A.W.) never said that dead would be punished because of
his family's lamenting (for him). What he said was that Allah would
increase the punishment of the unbeliever because of his family's
lamenting for him. Verily it is Allah who has caused laughter and
weeping. No bearer of a burden will bear another's burden."
Ibn Abu Mulaika said that al-Qasim
bin Muhammad said that when the words of Umar and Ibne Umar were
conveyed to Ayesha, she said: "You have narrated it to me from those
who are neither liars nor those suspected of lying but (sometimes)
hearing misleads.
We can also mention a similar type
of tradition, which has been recorded in Sahih Muslim, Sahih
Bukhari, Sunan Tirmizi and Muwatta of Malik.
Hisham bin Urwa relates from his
father that he said: I heard Ayesha say, when she was told that
Abdullah bin Umar says that the dead person is tormented by his
family's weeping over him, that "Allah may bless Abu Abdur Rehman
that he heard something but could not retain it (well)." Actually,
the bier of a Jewish man passed by the Prophet (S.A.W.) and the
member of his family were wailing over him. Upon this he said: You
wail and he is being tormented.
The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.)
told Umar not to prohibit weeping.
The books of Sunan Nasai, Sunan
Ibne Majah and Musnad Ibne Hanbal record the following narration:
Salma binte Azraq reports that Abu
Huraira said: Someone of the family of the Messenger of Allah
(S.A.W.) died. The women gathered and began to weep upon the death.
Umar stood up and refrained them from weeping. The Messenger of
Allah (S.A.W.) said: Do not stop them, Umar, because the eyes weep
and the heart is sorrowful and it has been only a short while (since
the calamity).
And in Musnad Ahmed Hanbal:
From Wahab bin kaysani, from
Muhammad bin Umar that he informed him: Salma Ibne Azrak was sitting
with Abdullah Ibne Umar in the market place when a bier passed and
people were weeping on it. When Abdullah Ibne Umar restrained them
from weeping, Salma Ibne Azraq told him; do not say that, because I
have witnessed my father say that he heard from Abu Huraira that a
woman from the family of Marwan died and Marwan told his women not
to weep upon her. Abu Huraira told him not to restrain them as he
himself had witnessed the incident when the Messenger of Allah
(S.A.W.) told Umar not to send away the women who were weeping upon
the dead. Moreover, the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) had said: "Call
them back, son of Khattab, for surely the soul is sorrowful and the
eyes weep and it is a fresh incident."
He said, "Did you not hear him say
that?".
"Yes", he replied, "The Almighty
and His Messenger are more knowledgeable."
Conclusion
In the first section of our
tradition, we have proved beyond any doubt that the Messenger of
Allah (S.A.W.) has time and again wept upon the death of various
people; martyrs as well as those who had died a natural death. He
has also wept near the grave of some people.
Similarly in the second section, we
have shown that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) had shed tears for
the imminent martyrdom of Imam Hussain (A.S.), his beloved grandson.
This also proves that weeping for Imam Hussain (A.S.) is a
meritorious act as proved in the previous section. In addition, we
can say that it is one of the Sunnat of the Prophet (S.A.W.).
The third section consists of
narrations, which were wrongly understood by the second caliph,
Umar. We have also discussed how Ayesha, Abu Huraira and Ibne Abbas
have corrected him.
We can safely conclude that the
traditions reported by the second caliph and his son, as regards the
prohibition of weeping, are faulty.
Doubtlessly, weeping due to the
fear of death, weeping upon the dead and upon their graves is from
the practices of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.). It is his Sunnat.
One who weeps upon Imam Hussain (A.S.) has actually followed the
sunnat of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.). |