Alaahaniaan is a poem, composed by Guru Nanak Sahib in Vad-hans Rag. Alaahaniaan (plural of Alaahani), which literally means: to sing the praise of some one. In the Punjab of pre-Guru period, it was a tradition that, on the death of a person, the family and nears and dears, used to sing in chorus, in the praise and indispensability of the deceased. The wailing was led/monitored by some professional woman, usually a Miraasan. Guru Sahib stopped this custom. In Sikhism, the death of a person is pre-destined and inevitable. It is the Will of God and His Orders must not be mourned. Thus, Sikhism forbids wailing and Alaahaniaan. The Sikhs recite Alaahaniaan from Guru Granth Sahib (pp. 578 – 82), not in the style of wailing but like all the other hymns. The main theme of this poem Alaahaniaan is:
“Death is the Will of God and one must bow before His Order; mourning is meaningless; and, when someone departs, the Sikhs should sing hymns in the praise of God (the Cause of every phenomenon)”.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)