Continued from the Previouse Page
While
people do visit sick 
relatives and
friends they
do not visit any sick person purely on account of his being a Muslim. Whenever the opportunity arises visit
the sick, do so even if they are not relatives or friends.
People
also accompany the Janaazah
(funeral) of
only relatives and friends, while they abstain from the Janaazah of a Muslim who is a stranger to them.
The Janaazah of any Muslim
should be accompanied, be the Mayyit 
an acquaintance or a stranger.
When
going for Ta’ziyyat 
, console the family of the deceased.
Do not do or say anything
to augment their sorrow. Nowadays, people instead of comforting
the relatives of the Mayyit, increase their grief and sorrow by
joining them in crying and wailing. On arrival, they sit down to cry. This is not
Ta'ziyyat . On the contrary it is Takleef (giving hardship to others).
They utter statements such as I am grieved to hear this news,
Your heart must truly be
shattered, Indeed his
death is great loss etc. This applies more to women. Their statements on such occasions are poisonous. Their statements are harmful to both the body and the
Deen.
When
going for Ta’ziyyat, do not enquire about the details of the deceased's
illness and circumstances of his death.
Ta’ziyyat
consists of two acts: to console the bereaved and thawaab for the Mayyit (deceased). Everything else besides this is nonsensical and
baseless.
The practice of visitors coming from far off the seventh day, tenth day and fortieth day customs are all baseless.
For
people living in the same town, the period of Ta’ziyyat , according to the Sharee'ah 
, is three days. After the third day they should not go for
Ta’ziyyat . The aim of Ta’ziyyat is to console, not to revive the
grief and sorrow.
Ta’ziyyat is permissible after three days for those who are
the residents of other towns. Since the person arrives from another town or city,
the bereaved person will be consoled by his words of sympathy. In fact, if the outsider
merely sits without uttering a word of consolation, the bereaved may feel hurt
and consider the attitude of the visitor as a display of insensitivity. Thus, the Sharee'ah has permitted an outsider to go for Ta’ziyyat even after the third day, while the period of the
three days is fixed for local residents only.
Only
very close relatives, who are able to console the bereaved, should go for
Ta’ziyyat . Close friends from whose companionship the bereaved
derives comfort should also go.
When
consoling the bereaved, do so with statements such as: Whatever has happened, has happened. Crying will be of
no avail. Act in the interests and benefit of the Mayyit. Recite the Qur'aan Shareef 
perform Nafl 
and make Zikrullah, so the thawaab 
reaches the Mayyit. Make du'aa of forgiveness on behalf of the Mayyit. Have confidence that he is entering Jannah,
where the comfort is greater. After a time, we too shall depart and
will meet up with the Mayyit.