A mother, angry with her son, forbade him to touch her bier

Question

Some time ago my honoured mother became angry with me, and at that time she said: “Don’t you so much as touch my bier (janaza).” Now for some days her anger has cooled, but she does not eat food and the like at my place, and she says: “I will eat when a fatwa comes from Dar al-‘Ulum Deoband about what the expiation (kaffara) is for my having said ‘Do not touch my bier’; once I have discharged it, then I will eat.” Therefore kindly issue a fatwa on this matter; it will be a great favour.

Answer

If the mother said in anger, “Do not touch my bier,” and then that anger passed, and she fears punishment on account of that statement of hers if she eats at your house, then in the Shari‘a this excuse is not taken into account. It is without doubt valid and permissible for her to eat at your place; no expiation (kaffara) is binding on her or on you.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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