Crying is a natural act and an act of a believer

Crying is a natural act

Islam is a religion based on nature. Wailing or weeping is the innate instinct of a human being. A newborn child starts his life crying. Weeping is not prohibited in any religion or creed of the world. Tears are automatically shed when a man is confronted by any physical, mental or spiritual mishap, and tears are not only the sign of grief but also a kind of reimbursement for that grief. Now in whose grief does a newborn child weep? That’s the question, which can be answered by the one who
 remembers his own weeping when he was born. Moreover, it is said by doctors that if a child does not cry on his birth then it  is considered as an abnormal child. Doctors say that when the child is born his lungs are shrinked.When he starts crying his lungs expands .Therefore when a child does not cry , doctors try their best to make him cry.It is said, that when Adam (as) was sent to this earth from heaven, he wept on that migration and hence every child of Adam (as), weeps when he opens his eyes in this world. If this is true, then this reason for wailing certainly supports our point of view that in the grief of a departure, wailing is a natural habit. Wailing or weeping is a natural instinct hence Allah (swt) has also praised this act and has said in the Holy Qur’an:

We read in Surah Maryam 19.058

“Those were some of the prophets on whom Allah did bestow His Grace, – of the posterity of Adam, and of those who We carried (in the Ark) with Noah, and of the posterity of Abraham and Israel of those whom We guided and chose. Whenever the Signs of (Allah) Most Gracious were rehearsed to them, they would fall down in prostrate adoration and in tears”.

Surah An-Nahl verse 53

“And ye have no good thing but is from Allah. And moreover, when ye are touched by distress, unto Him ye cry with groans”.

It is quite clear from these words of Allah (swt) that He praises this act and dislikes mocking the concept of weeping. Therefore, during mortification or humility before Allah (swt) and during the situations of calamity and catastrophe, wailing is the act of the praised ones and since ‘wailing’ is a composite act of mourning it serves as evidence for mourning.

Crying is an act of believers

“And when they listen to the revelation received by the Messenger, thou wilt see their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognise the truth: they pray: “Our Lord! We believe; write us down among the witnesses”.(Surah Maidah:83)

This proves that crying is an act of the believers and according to the Holy Qur’an flowing of tears is a sign of believing in the truth.

This verse was revealed when some Christians from Habsha visited Madina. Shah Abdul Qadir Mohaddis Dehlavi gives its explanation in his “Tafseer e Moza al Qur’an”.

“When the persecutions by the pagans of Makkah were no longer bearable, the Holy Prophet(s) ordered the Muslims to migrate to some other country. That same day nearly 80 Muslims (some alone and some along with their families) migrated towards Habsha. The ruler of Habsha in those days was a very just man; the pagans of Makkah approached the king and lied to him that this new group of people calls Jesus Christ a slave. On hearing this, the king asked the Muslims to recite something from their book, which the Muslims did. After hearing the recitation of the Holy Qur’an some of their saints started crying and said that this is exactly what they have come to know by his Excellency Jesus Christ, and he had further said that after Him, another apostle would come and no doubt this person is that apostle. The king accepted Islam secretly, and this verse has been revealed for him.”

The flowing of tears from eyes is called crying and crying is one of the aspects of mourning, therefore the relation of this verse with mourning is automatically proved.

Of relevance is Abu Bakr’s very own admission that the Sahaba used to weep when reciting the Quran.

“When Abu Bakr saw an Arab man weeping while listening to the Holy Quran He said : “We used to weep in the same manner as you are weeping but now our hearts have become stonned”

Ref : Ghazzali in “Ahya ul Uloom Adeen” Volume 2, Urdu Translation by Maulana Nadeem Al Waajdi Fazil Deobandi, Published in Karachi.

The entire content of the Qur’an is true as is Husayn (as)’s martyrdom. According to Hadeeth Thaqlain both have an unbreakable link. Just as the eyes of believers are filled with tears when they hear the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, they also shed tears when hearing of Imam Husayn’s (as) martyrdom. Husayn (as) was the Talking Qur’an and the moment one hears about the hardships faced by Imam (as) one laments over his death and shed tears.