'Abdallah b. Mas'ud reported God’s messenger as saying, "He who beats the cheeks, tears the front of the garments, and cries out as people did in pre-Islamic times, does not belong to us."
‘Abdallah b. ‘Umar said that when Sa'd b. ‘Ubada complained of a trouble, the Prophet came to visit him accompanied by ‘Abd ar-Rahman b. ‘Auf, Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas and ‘Abdallah b. Mas'ud. On entering and finding him in a bad way (Or, in a faint) he suggested that his end was near, but was assured that that was not so. The Prophet wept, and when the people saw him weeping they wept also. He then said, "Listen; God does not punish for the tears the eye sheds or the grief the heart experiences, but He punishes for this (pointing to his tongue), or He shows compassion; and the dead is punished because of his family’s weeping for him."( Cf. the second tradition in section III where 'A’isha says Ibn ‘Umar has forgotten or made a mistake. This has given rise to much discussion and efforts have been made to show that the tradition of Ibn ‘Umar refers particularly to excessive weeping and wailing, or to the desire of pre-Islamic Arabs that people should lament them to an excessive extent when they died. The reference to the tongue indicates loud lamentation in contrast to silent weeping)
Abu Burda said that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari fainted and his wife Umm ‘Abdallah began to shout with a piercing cry. He then came round, and asking her if she was quite ignorant, he told her that God’s messenger had said, "I have no connection with one who shaves, shouts and tears his clothing."
Usama b. Zaid said the Prophet’s daughter sent him a message telling him that a son of hers was dying and asking him to come to them. He sent her a greeting, saying at the same time, “What God has taken belongs to Him, what He has given belongs to Him, and He has an appointed time for everyone, so let her show endurance and seek her reward from God.” She then sent adjuring him to come to her, and he got up to go accompanied by Sa'd b. ‘Ubada, Mu'adh b. Jabal, Ubayy b. Ka'b, Zaid b. Thabit and some other men. The boy who was on the point of death (This is an attempt to express the meaning of the Arabic which says literally ‘his soul was disquieted ) was lifted up to God’s messenger whose eyes overflowed with tears. Sa'd said, “What is this, messenger of God?” He replied, “This is compassion which God has placed in the hearts of His servants. God shows compassion only to those of His servants who are compassionate.”
