Re: Why do Shias beat upon themselves on 9/10 muharram
Very well said.
Expression of grief is allowed and was allowed in the Prophet’s (SAW) time as well.
I would like to add the following:
There are certainly Sunni Hadiths that state that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) himself did WEEP for the dead. Al-Bukhari records:
Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah:
When my father was martyred, I lifted the sheet from his face AND WEPT and the people forbade me to do so BUT THE PROPHET DID NOT FORBID ME. Then my aunt Fatima began weeping and the Prophet said, “It is all the same whether you weep or not. The angels were shading him continuously with their wings till you shifted him (from the field).”
**Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 336
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And:
Narrated Anas bin Malik: We went with Allah’s Apostle (p.b.u.h) to the blacksmith Abu Saif, and he was the husband of the wet-nurse of Ibrahim (the son of the Prophet), Allah’s Apostle took Ibrahim and kissed him and smelled him and later we entered Abu Saif’s house and at that time Ibrahim was in his last breaths, and the eyes of Allah’s Apostle (p.b.u.h) started shedding tears. ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf said, “O Allah’s Apostle, even you are weeping!” He said, “O Ibn ‘Auf, this is mercy.” Then he wept more and said, “These eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved, and we will not say except what pleases our Lord, O Ibrahim! Indeed we are grieved by your separation.”**
Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 390
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There is also proof that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) wept for his mother who died decades before, a fact that significantly weakens the Nasibi claim that weeping for the dead cannot take place after three days (this is to refute Shiites who weep for Imam al-Husayn (عليه السلام) after more than a thousand years). Imam Muslim records:
Abu Huraira reported: The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) visited the grave of his mother AND HE WEPT, and moved others around him to weep, and said: I sought permission from my Lord to beg forgiveness for her but it was not granted to me, and I sought permission to visit her grave and it was granted to me. So visit the graves, for that makes you mindful of death.**
Sahih Muslim, Book 004, Number 2130
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According to this Sunni Hadith, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and his Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) wept for a pagan woman decades after her death. Why then do these Nawasib** wail when we weep for the grandson of the Prophet ****(صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) who was martyred **by the founder of the Salafi sect?
MATAM (edited by al-Arnaut) records that Aisha said:
ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قبض وهو في حجري ثم وضعت رأسه على وسادة وقمت ألتدم مع النساء واضرب وجهي
Allah’s Apostle died in my lap. I then placed his head on a pillow AND STARTED DOING ILTIDAM with the other women AND I BEAT MY FACE.