Full Lecture Transcript (Cleaned)
Question and Context — 0:00
Sister Shamima emails and asks that my father passed away and I wanted to attend his funeral and also go to his actual janazah but then I was told that it is haram for a lady to go to the funerals and to attend the janazah can you please shed some light on this issue so we begin by stating that the general rule is that any ruling that comes in our Sharia applies to both genders unless we find explicit evidence that this is a gender specific issue and when it comes to the.
Janazah it is well known that in early Islam our prophecies 'im initially forbade people from visiting the graveyards and then he asked Allah permission to visit his mother's grave Amina and then he said that I used to forbid you from visiting graveyards then Allah allowed me to visit my mother's grave so now I am telling you go and visit graves because it reminds you of the akhira so this is a generic ruling right now both men and women that right now we say it is generic and there is another hadith.
As well the famous hadith of Abu Huraira Yolo Han that whoever follows the janazah of a Muslim with Iman an expecting a Las reward that that person who continues until there is going to be a Duffin the person will come back with two mountains of good deeds and each of these mountains is like the Mount of hood so whoever follows in janazah until the burial takes place and then comes back will get the reward of two large mountains this is a general rule that as of yet would apply to both.
But there are a number of traditions in which women are specifically mentioned so we need to examine these the most authentic which is in Bukhari and Muslim and the most explicit and essentially this will be my verdict it is very clear in Sahih Bukhari Sahib Aslam Amalia one of the famous Sahaba yet she said no Hina an ET val Jana is he one am yours M Elena this is in Bihari and Muslim we were forbidden we meaning the women folk we were forbidden from following the janazah but at the same.
Time it wasn't made a strict issue well I'm Yours I'm Elena we weren't told to do so in a very strict manner the general rule we were told not to follow but it wasn't enforced it wasn't it was something that we weren't told is a very severe thing this hadith is embody and Muslim and there are a number of traditions in which scholars have differed over the authenticity the next highly that will do is an Abu Dawood and scholars have differed is it Hassan is a life that the Prophet system.
Is reported to have said lan allahu la illaha war and in one virgins o huatulco bore a las lana is upon the females who visit or who frequently visit the graves and who put candles on it one more technical storage and those who put candles on the graves so there's a discussion is this hadith authentic or not and those who make it authentic then they divide into two camps is the meaning those ladies who do jahida practices and they bring the candles to the grave or is the meaning those ladies.
Who merely visit the graves so there's yet another level of meaning now what is the meaning of this hadith those ladies who go and they will do because in the days of joy you know it isn't still I think of the Chinese culture I think what are their Japanese culture that when somebody dies they hire professional mourners do you know of this thing that they hire professional mourners and the mourners will come and they will cry out in a professional manner and they will evoke the emotions of the people you.
Know it is human nature when everybody is crying you will feel sad when everybody's nervous you will feel nervous when everybody's happy you will happy so the purpose of these mourners is to bring about an atmosphere of wailing and sadness and the jahaly Arabs had this practice well known and that's why there are so many a hadith that are forbidding this so the question does this hadith follow the same genre that what is being forbidden is those ladies or because the the the fray says those ladies who visit graze and.
Put candles on it so they would go and they would surround the grave and they would put candles and do versing so what is being forbidden ladies visiting or the jahaly custom of hiring out those professional mourners and they will wail and they will do a particular type of chanting and and what not what is being forbidden that is another issue as well and then there's a hadith that is definitely weak so that this one in Abu Dawood is a controversy some have made it has estimated life and then the.
Third hadith which is definitely weak which is an in Marja that it is narrated that our prophet saw some saw some women coming back from ana janazah and he said to the ladies did you carry the janazah they said no then he said did you shroud the janazah they said no he said did you put it in the ground and bury it I mean did you do any of the physical labor what that men do men carry it men shrouded men put it in men dig the grave men do so.
He's asking the one boy when they said no no no and then he said then you have come back carrying evil not carrying good deeds okay and this hadith is very clearly weak and also even the wording that the process um is it's not the nature of the hadith to put down in such a harsh manner when they saw this so anyway though it's not this week in any case so these are the three main a hadith in this regard based on these three our format has then extracted from these.
A hadith and the method that was the most willing for the women to go to the Jannah is was the Maliki method essentially the Maliki mother hub considered these a hadith to indicate only those women who are doing Una's Lama cracked is's ie the wailing and shouting and the they had a type of I'm not gonna call it poetry but they had phrases they would say okay so for example this is the biggest calamity how will we live after this who will take care of us our rock has disappeared so.
They have phrases these phrases are phrases of jahiliya so they had they had this professional means of doing it and especially it was something the women did and it was associated with feminine morning of the graves men did not do this it is the women that did it so the Maliki's understood all of this applies to that category of ladies not to ladies. and so essentially i saw we in his book the interpretation what a harmonic hiatus always called he says that it is jaw is it is allowed for an.
Elderly lady without any conditions to go attended janazah and it is jaw is for a young lady to go if she is appropriately dressed and the janazah is of her close relative okay now remember in that society young ladies did not exit the house at all except for a reason so the Maliki madam is saying this is one of those reasons where she's allowed to go if her brother if her father if her uncle passes away then she can go as long as she observes Islamic a ticket in her Lee.
Bass and also in what she says and does okay this is the Maliki madam there are on one side in them smack in the middle is the humbly and the Shah fairy meth have both the humble ease and Shia fairies they.
Core Ruling and Evidence — 8:11
Said that it is not Haram but neither is a jazz it is makrooh and makrooh means it's best not to do but if you do it you are not sinful okay this is the position of the ham bodies and of deep which one shaft ferries this is the explicit position Imam and no we says that Imam and no way says in is much more that what we mentioned that it is makrooh for the for the women to follow the journey is this is our med hub and the Med hub of.
The vast majority of run AMA a Blair Mandir said this is the position of women miss Ruth Ave been home are lovable mama of our issue of moussaka conversely enough hi EEMA Muhammad is after Naraku a Authority allows AI so on and so forth animal court will be the famous scholar from Cordova Spain and the Rose Imam the court will be said the explicit hadith of omertà clearly shows that it is merely discouraged and not Haram and this is the vast majority of our ulema this is a lot to be.
Says okay the hadith of omertà is which one we were told not to follow the Jannah is but we weren't told in a strict way Wellum you're it wasn't enforced it wasn't something that was made a big deal of if if people did so the strictest in this regard is of course the one method that is left and it is the hanafi madhhab and the hanafi madhhab they did not make it Haram but they said it is makrooh kuraha tahini me not kuraha tansy he the hanafis have two types of.
Makrooh right the other man happens at one type of makrooh I mentioned this in an earlier Q&A that I did the hanafis have two types of makrooh one in which there is a small amount of sin one in which there is no sin okay so makuu kuraha tansy he there's no sin makuu cara teri me there is an amount of sin but not like sin going to Jahannam that's haram stuff that's like the big stuff right and the Hanafi categorization is actually more sensible as I said before nonetheless they said.
This is makrooh kuraha toshimi that there shall be an amount of sin but not a large amount is like basically it's it's not good and really she should not go and if she goes then she has committed a minor sin this is the hand of he position and that's why in our cultures of India Pakistan and other Hanafy cultures basically it is unheard of her unknown that the women go but in out of an other cultures it is not as strict of an issue in many Arab cultures because of the.
Method issue also there are other narrations as well that the other scholars use of them the hadith Asahi Bihari that the Prophet system was walking and he saw a lady sitting at a table ER crying okay and it is very clear by the way because at that time frame the only cover they had was ba clear okay so the lady is sitting there at the cover crying not wailing big diff Prince crying is halal crying no sin wailing what is wailing to raise your voice and to say phrases of jahiliya.
And to beat oneself this is what is Haram but to cry and to feel sad is completely not only holiday it's a sign of humanity so he passed by a lady hadith is in Behati she's sitting at the cover and it was the cover of her husband or the one who was to take care of her and she's crying and the the Prophet ﷺ said oh servant of Allah female servant of Allah be patient be patient and expect a lot to reward you he gave her words of of what encouragement had it.
Been Haram had it been sinful then he would not have said this she did not recognize him and she said you don't know what I have suffered you don't know who this / the level of what not you know and she says something very harsh go away from here eel aki-nee and the processor in his Adam he left and one of the Sahaba Malaysia said you know who what did you just say do you know who this person was she didn't recognize because she was in her grief you know so.
Then she rushed up she said ya know surah al I didn't recognize your nose well I'm sorry I didn't recognize you and the processor did not get angry but he said a very powerful phrase what is the phrase in NamUs Saburo and Assad metal Allah patience is demonstrated at the first stroke of calamity how you react when you first hear the news how you react in the first few minutes and half-hour hour that shows patience everybody calms down in a week everybody how you react as soon as you hear the.
News meaning he is saying in a very gentle manner you weren't patient that's what he was telling the lady but the point is very clearly she's sitting at the Hubble and he's giving her words of encouragement also more explicit than this and much more powerful in multiple narrations we know that is shed on the Allahu on her after the death of the Prophet SAW Selim she of course remained in her house completely she never exited the house because of the verses of who job that were extra upon the prophecies in.
Him however she wanted to go for hedge so she asked permission from earth might have been I founded the Aloha and so that year all of the wives except for one listen to my lectures otherwise the person went I went over although this all over the wives day went for Hajj in a special Caravan and a special entourage with special guards that are gonna take them for hedge and on the way back it is narrated in multiple text without a question this is authentic she went to the grave of her.
Brother abdul rahman IBN ABI bakr he was buried outside of makkah and so she went there and she walked to the grave and she made dua for her brother and I'll quote you one of these narrations that Abdullah ibn ABI Malaika says that Aisha came back one day from the graveyard and I said oh no humble manin where did you go she said I came back from the cupboard of my brother abdul rahman IBN ABI bakr abdul rahman is the brother who took her for Umrah after hajj if you remember.
Mr. da aishite name right her brother abdul rahman was the one who took her and then took her back that was Abdul Rahman even abu bakr and he passed away in the falafel of I think Marathi a long one and so even a of America says didn't the Prophet sallallaahu I sent him for bid women from visiting a book this is a very explicit hadith didn't the Prophet system say you're not supposed to go and AH ashiya says yes we used to be forbidden and then he allowed us to visit.
Ok and this hadith isn't by hatha and hack him yes it used to be forbidden then he allowed us and in another version when she visited the grave she made dua she stood at the grave she made dua for her brother and then she said if I had been here to witness your burial I wouldn't have come to your grave meaning the point is I don't want to be out of my house I would go to the cab and come back but I wasn't witnessing I wasn't there when you were.
Lowered I wasn't there to pray janazah over you I was in Medina so if I had witnessed your janazah I wouldn't have done this detour and I would have gone straight home okay so the point is that you know she went.
Practical Guidance and Caveats — 15:49
There now other scholars respond and they say the fact that I showed of the allaha on her went that's her opinion and the Haditha the processor are there to which we respond technically that's a valid point but the opinion of Aisha is no joke especially in feminine matters and she knows feminine filk better than other later interpreters others say that she didn't actually visit the grave of her cupboard of her brother but it happened to be next to the road and the response is this is an assumption that has no.
Basis number one number two there is no other that is literally on the road that you're going there there is a small graveyard wherever there was and the point is she herself explicitly says if I had witnessed your janazah I wouldn't have come here which means she's going out of her way why because those who say that it is not allowed they say we must interpret that Aisha didn't go visit the grave the grave was on her path you see the difference right and they say if you're walking and there's.
A grave there you're not visiting and this is a stretch like it's I mean can you imagine the combat is right next to when she's walking between Mike and Medina she's going to the small little village that he passed away there's over there and the wording is clear that I have come here because I was unable to witness your janazah so this doesn't hold much weight and then they say those they say that it is not allowed they say that the very fact that she says had I witnessed your janazah.
I wouldn't have come shows she knew that the default is that women should not come to the graves do you understand where they're coming from right the others at this point the very fact that she's saying had I witnessed your janazah I wouldn't have come it means she knows women should not come to the Graveyard to respond to this two things number one if it was Haram even if she doesn't witness the denizer would she be able to come if it were sinful would she publicize that I'm was so this.
Actually proves that it is not Haram at all because she's announcing it and number two you are assuming she's not going to the grave because of the prohibition of women but there's another more explicit assumption that she doesn't want to go to the grave because she's supposed to be in her job which is explicit in the Quran right that Allah explicit in the Quran that remain in your hijab remain in your houses and don't go out so she only exited for hedge and it could easily be interpreted that if I.
Had witnessed your janazah I would have rushed straight back and I would not have done the detour because I want to get back to my house not because of the prohibition but because she wants to be in her house which is the wives of the processor so to summarize this question that we'll move on to the second one it is clear those who wish to follow the house he might have no problem it is makrooh kuraha to honey me and I respect as you know my position I have no problem.
I think it's good if somebody follows there might have no problem with that that having been said we'll also have to be very sensitive that times have changed and our women are no longer sitting at home as they did for much of Islamic history and what has is happening is that we are depriving them of the most essential places they need to be like the messages for example right it is true some scholars of the past said you know let the women stay at home when women would stay at home.
And they said no need for them to come to the Masjid even though the hadith is clear she should come if she wants to but there are some methods that said that but in a society and at a place in time where our wives our daughters our mothers our and I'm not saying this is positive I'm just giving it factually they go everywhere like as if there is nothing in exiting the house the notion of remaining in the house is not even known to them it is gone from the minds.
Of our women and I'm not saying that as a good thing or as a bad thing I'm simply saying it as a fact that that notion is gone to bring up these issues and then say yeah go ahead do your shopping go do your education hospital they should do education don't get me wrong I'm just saying go everywhere but don't come to the message it do everything when your father dies don't go to the cupboard you see in this society and in this mindset if we keep on pushing them into.
A corner the reaction might be an illegitimate anger in which they say Hollis we're gonna take over give the holder from now on okay how is on Los Angeles on the weekend and there is a message it there that is only women no men are allowed inside hot bus given by the women all run by the women everything is there now I'm not criticizing publicly I'm not definitely not endorsing but I will say one thing if you keep on pushing pushing pushing what's gonna happen so my philosophy and I'll be.
Very explicit about this where the Sharia allows some leeway give that leeway where the Sharia has some breathing room then hum do not give and where the Sharia has a red line that is where we need to enforce because if you want to keep on moving the red line back back back don't be surprised I mean in our time frame to tell a dog that she cannot go to the janazah of her father she will literally say what type of religion is I can't even come in and you know be.
And and wouldna which we should say look men and women are allowed to go but there must be a proper decorum you observe the etiquettes no wailing no screaming no shouting and if there is a fear that that might happen then we tell this lady think or twice and if you insist on going we will have other ladies there that if that happens you will be you know has taken out that this is not appropriate that add a wedding and by the way at a funeral by the way this is.
Something that I have witnessed myself so it's not just hearsay that women are not told this and they attend the janazah and especially if it's a sudden death right and you have you know a young lady screaming at the top of her lungs you know just bawling and saying things that are not appropriate to be said you know it's not something that you've Islam did you see how are we gonna live now who's gonna take care of me Allah took care of you not this man a lot took care of.
You not your husband or brother or father but at that emotional state if you say something I can't live anymore stop for Allah that person was giving you life Allah is high and calm so this is where we draw the red line these are the battles we should be fighting and we say very clearly that is something that should not be done nonetheless if somebody wants to follow the other med hub then I have you know that's their business but the other three math hubs they say it is not sinful.
To do and that is the position I hold and a large division knows best la eternal fire Oh hurry and I as in a feat Dona Ursula man with her appearing never fear whistle Campina one more little Yama album belong Leo attinger.