"Four traits from the practices of Jāhiliyyah will remain in my ummah: boasting about lineage, slandering ancestry, seeking rain through the stars, and wailing (over the dead).” And he said: “The wailing woman — if she does not repent before her death — will be raised on the Day of Resurrection wearing a garment of pitch and a coat of scabs.”

Reported by Muslim (no. 934), from the narration of Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī — may Allah be pleased with him.

Brief Explanation of the Hadith

The Prophet — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — informs in this ḥadīth of certain traits from the ways of Jāhiliyyah that remain within his Ummah, and they will not abandon them entirely. He mentioned four of them — not as an exhaustive list, but to indicate the severity of their danger and the deep-rootedness of these traits in people’s souls. Boasting of lineage refers to showing off and taking pride in the merits, virtues, and honorable traits of one’s forefathers — with the aim of elevating oneself and belittling others. This is a form of the blameworthy arrogance that destroys humility and leads to despising others.
Reviling lineage means disparaging people’s ancestry and finding fault with it — with the intention of belittling their forefathers and exalting one’s own. This includes statements like: “So-and-so has no lineage,” or “He is of vile descent,” or “His origin is from the lowly.” It is one of the most dangerous vices because it ignites tribal partisanship and undermines the objectives of brotherhood and equality that Islam came to establish.
Seeking rain by the stars—though the original meaning of seeking rain is to request rainfall—is intended here to mean attributing rain to the stars, even while believing that the One who actually causes it is Allah, the Almighty. This was the practice of the people of ignorance, as Allah says:
{And if you asked them, ‘Who sends down water from the sky and revives thereby the earth after its death?’ they would surely say, ‘Allah.’} (al-ʿAnkabūt: 63).
They acknowledged that it is from Allah, yet they attributed its occurrence to the star, thus assigning a cause where none exists. This constitutes minor shirk. However, if someone believes that the star itself causes the rain to fall in reality, then this is major shirk that expels one from the fold of Islam, for it ascribes the act to other than Allah — Exalted is He — and this nullifies tawḥīd.
Wailing over the dead is among the most reprehensible forms of impatience, for it does not merely express the natural grief at a calamity, but goes beyond to include screaming, striking oneself, loud lamentation, and enumerating the virtues and qualities of the deceased — such as saying: “O my protector! O my master! O my support! O my mountain!” and similar phrases that resemble objection to the decree of Allah. The Prophet — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — warned that if a wailing woman does not repent before death, she will face severe punishment: Allah will clothe her on the Day of Resurrection with a garment of pitch — a black, foul-smelling substance that sticks to the body and intensifies the heat of the Fire and its torment — and her body will be covered with a coat of scabs. This signifies the gravity of this act and its devastating impact on both the individual and society. These traits, though remnants of the pre-Islamic era, still recur within the Muslim community today. This necessitates constant warning and reminder that Islam came to abolish all forms of tribalism and arrogance, to connect people solely to their Lord, and to affirm that true superiority lies only in piety and righteous deeds — not in lineage or outward appearances.