Observing a moment of silence to express one’s grief

There is no proof for this in the Sharī‛ah. It is makrūh tahrīmī to consider it an act of worship. This practice neither benefits the living nor the dead.

The Sharī‛ahs of the past permitted silence as a form of fasting. The Qur’ān makes reference to Hadrat Maryam radiyallāhu ‛anhā as follows:

I have vowed a fast to the Merciful [Allāh] so I am not going to speak to any human today.

Our Sharī‛ah considers this to be impermissible. ‛Allāmah Shāmī rahimahullāh says that this is a practice of the fire-worshippers:

‛Allāmah Ālūsī (1217-1270 A.H.) writes in his commentary to the above verse:

This refers to abstaining from the normal things which are abstained from when a person is fasting and also from speaking. People in the past used to abstain from speech in their fast. It was a way of getting closer to Allāh ta‛ālā. Taking a vow for this was also correct. Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‛alayhi wa sallam prohibited us from this. It is abrogated in our Sharī‛ah as stated by al-Jassās in Kitāb al-Ahkām. It is related that Abū Bakr radiyallāhu ‛anhu went to a woman who had vowed not to speak. He said: “Islam has put an end to this practice, so you must speak.”

Ibn Qudāmah (541-620 A.H.) writes:

Ad-Durr al-Mukhtār states:

Refer to Fatāwā Rahīmīyyah, vol. 2, p. 68 for additional details.