Ibn Al-Qayyim said.
The nature of his crying was similar to that of his laughing; he neither laughed out loud nor did he laugh boisterously. Likewise when he cried, he neither wailed nor was his breath taken away due to it. Rather, his eyes would shed tears and a sound would emit from his chest; he cried out of his mercy for the deceased and sometimes he cried out of his concern and mercy for his nation. Sometimes he would cry due to his fear of Allāh, and sometimes when he heard the Qur’ān, due to his love of Allāh. Thus embodying the required combination of love and fear of Allāh.
322. ‘Abdullāh ibn Shikhīr narrated: “I entered upon the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) whilst he was praying. Due to his crying, such sound emitted from his chest like that of a boiling kettle.” [370]
Abdul-Karīm al-Khudair said,
This description given by the narrator is to show the high level of humility and piety of the Prophet (peace be upon him) from the effect of the Qur’ān. However, it is unfortunate that many people enter the prayer and end it without being affected by the Qur’ān they recite. The description given in this hadīth is what happens to those who follow the Prophet’s example which results from the fear of Allāh that one feels whilst standing before Him in the prayer.
You find some people who are touched by the recitation of some individuals but never feel anything when the same ayāt are recited by someone else. This could be due to the beauty of the voice but one ought to be blamed if he only becomes touched by particular voices and does not get touched if the Qur’ān is recited beautifully by other people. This is because a person should feel touched and effected by the words of the Qur’ān, per se, and so the beauty of the voice should serve to help the person to increase this feeling and not be that which makes the person cry.
Sometimes, there are individuals who we hear cry aloud in the prayer. If this happens because the person is overwhelmed and cannot control himself, then the person is not blamed. It is noticed that the effect on some people is short i.e. they cry when they come across an ayah and after the ayah ends, they return to their normal status. It should be noted that the real crying that affects the heart is that which does not end quickly. It was reported that many of the righteous predecessors would fall sick in the next morning because of their crying in the night while praying. Thus, the heart which cannot maintain this effect is indicative of the effect being weak upon it. I saw during the last Ramadān someone who was weeping out loud in the prayer and after the prayer ended he entered into a verbal altercation with other people over some issue. This shows that the heart is still taken away by this worldly life and the sins are not yet cleansed.
323. ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas’ūd related: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) once asked me to recite the Qur’ān to him. I said, ‘O Messenger of Allāh! How could I recite it to you when it has been revealed to you?’ He (peace be upon him) said, ‘I love to hear it from other people.’ Thereupon I began reciting Sūrah al-Nisā and when I reached this ayah, {But how [will it be with them] when We bring of every people a witness, and We bring thee [O Muhammad] a witness against these?}[371] I saw tears begin to flow from the eyes of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him).” [372]
Al-Qastalanī said,
This effect is what a person would have when listening to the Qur’ān with his heart and not just his ears. Allāh said: {And when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of what they have recognized of the truth.}[373]
Alī al-Qārī said,
Ibn Battal said: “It is possible that he (peace be upon him) requested to hear the Qur’ān from Ibn Mas’ūd to show that listening to the Qur’ān is Sunnah (even if the person has memorised it) or to contemplate it and reflect upon it because the listener is more focused and more able to contemplate than the reciter who is busy reciting.”
Abū Hafs al-Sūhrawardī said,
This is indeed the truthful manner for listening to the Qur’ān. It is a truthfulness that no two believers would ever dispute over its truthfulness, and evidence testifying to the guidance of the person who is listening in such a lofty manner. The ignited flame of this thoughtful listening overcomes the coldness of certainty, causing the eyes to be flushed with tears. The combination of the element of certainty with the element of attentive and thoughtful listening brings forth different emotions; sometimes it produces grief, which is an enkindled emotion, and some other times it brings forth the flames of yearning, which is an enkindled emotion, and sometimes it sets the fire of regret, which is also an enkindled emotion. If listening to the Qur’ān manages to call forth these emotions from a heart that is filled with the coolness of certainty, the eyes will have no power but to release the tears therein because water is a result of the engagement between heat and cold. When the heat of listening emerges into the layers of the heart, its effect reflects on the bodily limbs through goose bumps; Allāh said: {Allāh has sent down the best statement: a consistent Book wherein is reiteration. The skins shiver there from of those who fear their Lord.}[374] And when its effect escalates, it reaches into the brain causing the eyes to drop its tears, and when its effect crosses the borders and reaches into the soul, the waves can no longer be constrained within and so crying and disturbance manifest upon the body. Each person, depending on his level, experiences these conditions.
324. ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr narrated: “In the time of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) there once occurred a solar eclipse. Subsequently, the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) began to pray and he stood for such a period that it seemed that he did not intend to bow. He then remained bowing to such an extent that it seemed that he did not intend to rise. Then in the same manner after standing up from bowing, he stood for such a long period that it seemed that he did not intend to prostrate. He remained in the position of prostration for such a long period that it seemed that he did not intend to raise his head. In this manner he did the same after lifting his head and sitting between the two prostrations. He did the same [as he did in the first prostration] in the second one. After he arose from the prostration he began breathing heavily and crying whilst pleading, ‘O Allāh! You have promised me that you will not punish them so long as I am among them. O Allāh! You have promised me that you will not punish them while they seek forgiveness. O Allāh! We beseech you for your forgiveness.’
When he (peace be upon him) completed the prayer, the sun had already cleared. Thereupon, he (peace be upon him) delivered a sermon wherein he praised and exalted Allāh then he said, ‘Indeed, the sun and moon are from the signs of Allāh that do not eclipse because of the death or birth of anyone. Whenever eclipses happen, hasten to resort to the remembrance of Allāh.’” [375]
Abdul Karīm al-Khudair said,
The Prophet (peace be upon him) refuted the claim of the disbelievers before Islām that eclipses occur because of the death of persons who possess great status. This great sign is taken lightly today because the people perceive it as a mere natural phenomenon whose time of occurrence can be expected based on calculation. In other words, people have started to look at it through the lens of science to the extent that they will buy sunglasses and travel to other countries just to watch an eclipse while they should fear Allāh and rush to perform prayers in light of the guidance of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in this regard.
Muhib al-Dīn al-Tabarī said,
It coincided on this day that the son of the Prophet (peace be upon him) died. The sun would often eclipse, according to their observations, on the twenty eighth or twenty ninth of the month. Thus, when they saw it had eclipsed on the tenth they said it must have eclipsed due to the death of the son of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Abū al-Hasan al-Nadwī said,
Had this emotional sad event (i.e. the death of the son of the Prophet (peace be upon him)) happened to any other leader, ruler or preacher, the least they would have done is to remain silent so as not to negate the speculations of people about the relation between the event and the occurrence of the eclipse. This is because the occurrence would serve their cause and movements and would allow them to enforce a layer of glorification that would make people trust them more. However, in this great event, the position of the Prophet (peace be upon him) stands out, drawing the line between Prophets and all other leaders due to his refusal to take advantage of any event to attract more praise and glorification. This is why Allāh (peace be upon him) prescribed to pray upon the occurrence of this event so as to prevent any opportunity for this deviated notion to grow in the hearts of people and strengthen the bond between the people and Allāh .
325. ‘Abdullāh ibn Abbās related: “One of the daughters of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) was on her death bed. He picked her up and placed her before him. Thus she passed away whilst in front of him. Umm Ayman began wailing aloud at her passing. The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said, ‘Are you crying in the presence of the Messenger of Allāh!?’ She said, ‘Do I not see you cry?’ He replied, ‘The tears you see are not from crying, but rather they are a mercy from Allāh. A believer is in a good state at all times, his soul is taken out whilst still praising Allāh.’” [376]
‘Abdullāh ibn Sa’īd al-Hadramī said,
It is prohibited to wail loudly but as she saw him shedding tears she thought what she did was permissible. This is why when he (peace be upon him) admonished her act, she replied, “I saw you crying.” Meaning, “I followed your guidance and I thought it is allowed to wail along with shedding the tears.” The response of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was to teach her that he was not crying due to an inability to be patient or due to panic but rather his tears fell due to the mercy that Allāh had planted in his heart. This hadīth does not contradict the hadīth wherein Aisha mentioned that, “The Prophet (peace be upon him) never cried over a dead person; the most he would do was to hold his own beard.” This is because she meant that he never cried due to grieving over the deceased but his tears were due to his mercy for his nation.
326. Aisha narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) kissed [the forehead] of ‘Uthmān ibn Madh’ūn [after his death] and his eyes were shedding tears whilst he was doing so.” [377]
Abdul Muhsin al-Abbad said,
This shows that kissing the dead is permissible and there are other hadīths that indicate this permissibility.
Ibn al-Qayyim said,
From the guidance of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is to cover the face and body of the deceased and to close the eyes of the person. Sometimes he would kiss the deceased just as he did with ‘Uthmān ibn Madh’ūn.
327. Anas ibn Mālik reported: “We witnessed with the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) the burial of one of his daughters. He was sitting next to the grave whilst the tears flowed from his eyes. The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said, ‘Is there any person here who did not have sexual relations today.’ Abū Talhah replied, ‘I did not.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) told him to enter the grave and so he entered her grave and buried her.” [378]
Abdul Muhsin al-Abbad said,
This hadīth indicates that a person who has sexual relations on the same day should not enter the grave to bury the deceased.
Al-Qastalanī said,
The reason Abū Talhah was given precedence over ‘Uthmān (the husband of Umm Kulthūm) was because ‘Uthmān had sexual intercourse with one of his women that night and so the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not want him to enter the grave of his wife. This was because he did not like that he left his wife on her death bed to fulfil his desires. It is possible that the sickness of his wife was long and ‘Uthmān needed to fulfil his desire that night and did not think she may die on the same night.