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The mourning woman (na'iha)

النَّائِحَة

In the lexicon, a na'iha is a woman who weeps over the dead and recounts their virtues. The jurists hold that she is disciplined and held until she repents. A report related by al-Awza'i says that Umar struck a mourning woman, saying she troubles the dead in their graves and the living in their houses, forbids patience which God commands, and urges despair which God forbids. Al-Shayzari says the market inspector disciplines a wailing woman and bars her from funerals and graves. 1

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Health, body and death

Summary

In the lexicon, a na'iha is a woman who weeps over the dead and recounts their virtues. The jurists hold that she is disciplined and held until she repents. A report related by al-Awza'i says that Umar struck a mourning woman, saying she troubles the dead in their graves and the living in their houses, forbids patience which God commands, and urges despair which God forbids. Al-Shayzari says the market inspector disciplines a wailing woman and bars her from funerals and graves. 1

People and things also explored

Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation· Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· Grief and worry (al-huzn)· The clot stage of the embryo (alaqa) and the rulings on its loss· Alya (the rump, and its rulings)· Anf (the nose, and its rulings in purification, prayer, fasting and retaliation)· Anthayan (the two testicles, and rulings on them)· Reason as the basis of legal capacity and of the blood-money (aql)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.15427
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The mourning woman (na'iha)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/naihah/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation

In the lexicon, adhm is the bone that has flesh on it, plural 'idham and 'izam. Most jurists hold that a human bone is pure, whether living or dead, of a Muslim or not; that a fish bone stays pure after death; and that the bone of a lawfully slaughtered edible animal is pure and may be used. The bone of carrion, or of a non-edible animal, is impure according to the Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis and Ishaq, and cannot be purified; the Hanafis hold it pure, and 'Umar disliked oiling in ivory. On cleansing after excretion with a bone, the Shafi'is and Hanbalis forbid it; the Hanafis dislike it as forbidden but accept that it suffices; the Malikis forbid a carrion bone and allow a pure bone with disapproval. Most jurists allow retaliation for a bone only at a joint, since equality cannot be achieved elsewhere.