Furthermore, Nawawi and others remind us that the ‘weeping’ forbidden here must be understood as loud, histrionic wailing, not normal tears of sadness.54 Such natural expressions of grief must be allowed, notes Nawawi, because authentic Hadiths tell of the Prophet shedding tears at the death of his own infant son, Ibrahim, and also describe his close friend and successor Abu Bakr breaking into tears upon seeing Muhammad’s body. Indeed, tears for the dead were ‘a mercy,’ the Prophet had explained.
