Visiting families of deceased on Eid un-Islamic: Scholars

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some people visit relatives who have lost loved ones on Eid days to console them, but religious scholars call this tradition illegal and ask people to avoid it.

Muslims around the world on the first day of the Eid wear new cloths, perform prayers and exchange gifts to celebrate Eid, prepare different dishes and serve and fruits to guests because Eid are the days for happiness of Muslims.

People in different provinces of Afghanistan have different traditions. One of the traditions is that they visit the houses of relatives who have lost family members and pay condolences.

A resident of Kabul city, Shamsul Huda, told Pajhwok Afghan News that they traditionally visited relatives of a deceased family member on the first day of Eid.

“It’s a tradition, if you don’t visit such relatives they get sad and complain that it was the first Eid of their deceased family members and our relatives did not come, so when we offer the Eid prayers, we try our best to visit our relatives whose family members had died before Eid.”

He said the purpose of this visit was to offer condolences to the family of the deceased.

Muhibullah, another resident of Qarabagh district of Kabul province, said this tradition was followed in their area and people used to visit the houses of the deceased persons on the first day of Eid and offer condolences to the family.

“This tradition is very common. We don’t visit all villagers, but with whom we have good relations, but we certainly visit those whose family members have deied before Eid.”

But religious scholars consider this tradition as un-Islamic.

Religious scholar and university teacher Noorullah Kausar told Pajhwok that visiting the houses of relatives who had lost family members during Eid was forbidden and illegal tradition.

He added: “It is rejected in the light of the religion of Islam to pay condolences to the family of the deceased.”

He added that people should not change the joys of Eid into sadness for a family who had lost relatives by visiting them and they should not visit the house of the deceased person for this tradition.

He said that it is the duty of all the people, the media, and scholars to inform the people in this regard so that they avoid such wrong practices.

Another religious scholar, Qari Abdul Mubeen Maher, also considers this tradition illegal and says that it has negative effects on the society, which turns the happiness of a house into sadness.

He says: “The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) did not grant Fatiha to any dead person after three days, so it is necessary that people do not renew the forgotten grief of the families.”

sa/ma

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