Religious Quotes on the Avoidance of Crying for the Dead: An Inclusive Context-Oriented Approach

Crying is an emotive human phenomenon initiated shortly after birth as the first natural act in man’s life. Bitter forms of crying often occur when one loses a dear person or whoever cordially significant. There are certain religious comments and commandments on this emotive behavior. The repertoire of Muslim teachings contains a set of contrastive remarks in this regard. Some of them discourage crying for the dead by considering it as a torture for them, while others encourage it as a natural reaction and even refer to it as a blessing. So far, Muslim scholars have made a great deal of attempts to resolve this contrast. Of the speculations ever offered, a history-based view considers crying as a permissible act. On the basis of inadequate historical evidence, it is argued that the ban on crying is a matter of the past. Through the analysis of the traditional views on the subject and by considering the historical contexts of certain quotations, the present study seeks to offer an appropriate picture in this regard. As the results of the study indicate, the initial prohibition of crying for the dead was strongly induced by the specific features of the pre-Islam culture in the Arabian Peninsula, such as ostentation and belief in reincarnation. The prohibition was mostly directed to the eradication of wrong beliefs there. Political conditions of the time and the corresponding power dialectics are also put forth as another basis for such a prohibition.