بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

This is one of the favourite areas of exploitation for the Nasibi and they enjoy making fun and insisting that these practises are against the Shari’ah. They serve as further evidence that the Shi’a are a deviated Sect. Since they adhere to Umar ibn al Khattab’s way famed for his words ‘the Qur’an is sufficient for us’ lets turn the tables on them.

They keep asking us to prove our mourning rituals from the Qur’an such as crying, chest beating etc.We ask them to cite us any verse containing the words Matam, Latmiyah (blood letting) wherein Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى has declared such practices to be Haraam. No where in the Holy Qur’an has Matam been classified as Haraam. On the contrary, the stories of Prophets include examples of their mourning. As such, the permissibility of Matam is there in Qur’an but not its prohibition. Thus an act, for which there is no restriction of any kind by Islamic Laws, becomes permissible. It is Nasibi who have lied by stating that Matam is against patience and call only for patience instead!

Through the physical act of matam, believers identify themselves with the suffering of the martyrs, especially Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions. It fosters a sense of solidarity and empathy within the community, reinforcing the values of sacrifice, courage, and standing against oppression.
Matam provides a channel for emotional release and spiritual catharsis. It allows individuals to mourn the tragedies of Karbala openly, seeking solace and comfort in the collective mourning of the community. This communal grieving helps in healing emotional wounds and renewing spiritual commitment.
It serves as a means of passing down the stories of Karbala from generation to generation, ensuring that the legacy of Imam Hussain (AS) and the principles he stood for remain alive in the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide.

Now let’s refute this Nasibi, Allamah Shibli Numani al Hanafi is a renowned Sunni scholar from the Indian subcontinent. In his Sirat-un Nabi (Eng translation Volume 2, pg 74) quoting Sirat Ibn Hisham we read the following about Hamzah (as) martyrdom:

“The Holy Prophet (P) returned to Madina and found the whole city gone into mourning. Whenever he went, he heard wailing and lamentation in every house. He was grieved to find that all who were martyred in the battle had their mourners doing their duty to the memory of their dear ones. But there was none to mourn the death of Hamzah (ra). Overwhelmed with grief, the words that there was no one to mourn the loss of Hamzah escaped his lips. The Ansâris were touched to the core when they heard this remark from the Prophet(s). They asked their women to go to the house of the Prophet (S) and mourn for Hamzah. The Prophet (p) thanked them for their sympathy, prayed for their well-being, but added that it was not permissible to lament in memory of the dead. (Women in Arabia were used to wailing and lamenting aloud, they would tear off their garments, dig their nails into their cheeks, slap themselves on the face and put up loud screams. This undesirable practice was from that day stopped for future)”

Nawasib such as Ibn al-Hashimi will no doubt take heart from the last few lines so let us pass a comment on them:

[Observation One]

Whilst these words are not acceptable for being contradictory to previous lines of the narration, our readers should also know that the words ‘it is not permissible to lament in memory of the dead’ is an addition that cannot be found in other history books.
We read in the History of Tabari Volume 7 page 137:
“The Messenger of God passed by a settlement of the Ansar of the Banu Abdal al-Ashhal and Zafat and heard sounds of lamentation and women weeping. The Messenger of God’s eyes filled with tears and he wept, but then he said “Yet Hamzah has no women weeping for him”. When Saad bin Muadh and Usayd b. Hudayr came back to the settlement of the Banu Abdal al-Ashhal, they told the women to gird themselves up and go and weep for the Messenger of God’s uncle”.

Al Muhaddith Shah Abdul Haqq Dehlavi in ‘Madarij un Nubuwwat (Vol.2, page179)’ records the event as follows:
“When Holy Prophet (s) reached Madina, he saw that cries could be heard from most of the houses of Ansaar (the helpers) but not from Hamza’s house. Holy Prophet (s) said that wasn’t there anyone to cry over Hamza? The helpers (Ansaar) asked their women to mourn over Hamza first and then they may go and cry over their own martyr. The women went to Hamza’s house in the evening and kept crying till midnight. When Holy Prophet(s) woke up and asked about it, he was told the whole thing. Holy Prophet(s) blessed them by saying” May Allah be pleased with you and your”.
It has been similarly recorded in Al-Isti’ab that after Holy Prophet’s query, “none of the wives of the helpers cried over their own dead but cried for Hamza”,
Therefore through no tradition, reference or logic can it be proved that Holy Prophet (s) stopped Ummah from crying over the death of their dear ones.

[Observation two]

Our assertion that the words “It is not permissible to mourn over the dead” is a later addition is confirmed when we observe the first edition of Shibli Numani’s work. We relied on the Urdu to English translation of Numani’s work. Of interest is the fact that the part in brackets wherein the practice of mourning is condemned was added in later editions. The original statement as narrated in the first edition is mentioned above. Look at this report from “Seerat Un Nabi” part 1, page 361, published in 1975 by “Deeni Kutb Khana Islami, Lahore.”
“Holy Prophet (s) reached Madina, the whole of Madina had turned into a mourning place, his Excellency could hear voices of people mourning from every house, and Holy Prophet (s) felt grieved that all martyrs were being cried upon by their relatives but there was no one to mourn over Hamza. In severe grief he said: “Isn’t there anyone to cry over Hamza?” The Helpers (Ansaar) palpitated when they heard this and therefore all of them asked their wives to go and mourn over Hamza’s martyrdom. When Holy Prophet(s) saw that the females of Ansaar (the helpers) were mourning for Hamza, he blessed them and thanked them for their sympathy but he further said “It is not permissible to cry over dead.”
After this a whole paragraph from “This was a tradition in Arabia ” till ” intense love for Hamza” has been removed from the first edition and further replaced by this new statement. This is the ingenuity of Syed Salman Nadvi who completed this book of his teacher (Shabli Naumani) after his death. This new paragraph is not present in the first edition.
“Women in Arabia were used to wailing and lamenting aloud, they would tear off their garments, dig their nails into their cheeks, slap themselves on the face and put up loud screams. This undesirable practice was from that day stopped for future”.
The Urdu/Arabic alphabet “seen” in the text denotes that this statement was not present in the earlier edition and Syed Suleman Nadvi added it afterwards. Later editions simply removed the ‘Seen’ so as to imply that these words were those of Numani!

[Observation Three]

Whilst this shows how dishonest these Nasibi are, let us also address the comments of Nadvi:
1. 1)If Lamenting were Haraam why would the Prophet (s) be sad on the fact that no one was mourning his slain Uncle?
2. 2)Why would the Prophet (s) allow the women to do something that is Haraam? (i,e mourning for their own dead ones)
3. 3)If as Numani says that this was a common practice amongst Arab women and the Prophet banned it, this prohibition would have definitely received maximum publicity.

[Observation Four]

Even if it is believed that Holy Prophet (s) did say ‘It is not permissible to cry over the dead’ such a statement would not effect our mourning because Imam Husayn (as) is a martyr and it is forbidden to call them dead. Such restrictions are for those who die a natural death not those who are slain in the way of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى.

[Observation Five]

The reference makes it clear that our Holy Prophet (s) paid gratitude to those who consoled and mourned over Hamza’s martyrdom. He approved of this act and blessed them with his prayers. Had it been a prohibited act the Prophet (s) would never have shown gratitude. This gratitude strengthens our point that the words ‘It is not permissible to cry over the dead’ has no correlation with the incident. Rather Syed Suleman Nadvi amended the statements in order to cover up Allamah Shibli Numani’s blunder.
The mourning of Hamza did not just end there; we have already cited the fact that the Holy Prophet (s) and the three Caliphs’ would visit the graves of the martyrs every year.

~Jazakallah