Chapter 275 - Prohibition of Deriding one's Lineage

Allah, the Exalted, says:  

"And those who annoy believing men and women undeservedly, bear on themselves the crime of slander and plain sin.'' (33:58)

Abu Hurairah said: The Messenger of Allah said,

"Two matters are signs of disbelief on the part of those who indulge in them: Defaming and speaking evil of a person's lineage, and wailing over the dead.'' [Muslim].


Commentary: Both the sins mentioned in this Hadith are such that if a Muslim thinks them lawful and still commits them he will become a Kafir. To defame someone's lineage means to disgrace or humiliate somebody by saying to him or to her: "Your father belongs to such and such profession'' or "Your mother is such and such / so-and-so'' or "You are a weaver, blacksmith, laundrer, cobbler, etc.''

Mourning and wailing means expressing qualities of a deceased person through weeping, crying and lamenting loudly. Imam An-Nawawi said that such qualities are attributes and acts of the disbelievers and practices of the pre-Islamic period, or Jahiliyyah.