Making food during the mourning period

Question

Praise be to Allah.

It is better for neighbours and relatives to make food
in their own houses then bring it to the household (of the deceased),
because it was narrated that when the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) heard that his cousin Ja’far
ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) had died in the Battle
of Mu’tah, he told his family to make food for the family of Ja’far,
and said, “Because there has come to them that which will preoccupy
them.”

But it is not permitted for the family to make food
for people because for the sake of the deceased. This is one of the
actions of the Jaahiliyyah, whether it is done on the day of the death,
or on the fourth or tenth day after the death, or at the new year. All
of that is not permitted, because it was narrated that Jareer ibn ‘Abd-Allaah
al-Bajali (may Allaah be pleased with him) – one of the companions of
the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) – said, “We used to count gathering with the
family of the deceased and making food for them after the burial to
be a kind of wailing (niyaahah).”

But if guests come to the family of the deceased during
the mourning period, there is nothing wrong with them making food for
them for the sake of hospitality, and there is nothing wrong with the
household inviting whoever they want of their neighbours and relatives
to eat with them from the food that has been given to them. And Allaah
is the Source of strength.