Are we supposed to read the whole Quran in favour of the dead?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi
wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Assalamualeikum
warah matulahi wabarakatu,
Thank
you for answering my previous question and may Allah bless you.
My
Question to you is: When somebody dies, we usually pray Suratul Yasin and at
times several khatam's of the Holy Quran in favour of the dead person. Also
during the aniversary of a dead relative, we send people sweets so that they
pray fatia to the dead person. In this accepted in Islam?
One comment on
praying the quaran for the dead and feeding the people on the 3,10,30th and
40th day. Rasullallah did mention that the person who trained his children to
follow the deen if he asks Allah to forgive his father's sins they shall be
forgiven so when father dies why not pray for him adn do khatam al quran and
why not do good deeds?
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be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does
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readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
ANWSER:
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
The
Prophet (saws) said in one of his famous narrations:
When a
person dies, his book of accounts is closed except for three things:
1. Sadaqa Jaariya. ie. a person who did or spent something in the way of Allah and people are still benefiting from it. Things like mosques, orphanages, wells, planting of trees and the like, which outlive the person who died and benefiting the ummah.
2. Ilm
un Naafe'ah. ie. a person who spread knowledge of Islam and people are still
benefiting from it after his death. Things like lectures, writing books, good
advice he gave to people, or any other knowledge of Islam that the person
helped in spreading the word of Allah.
3. Ibn
us Saleh. ie. his children who regularly pray to Allah to forgive their
father/mother who died.
Other than the above three, no act will be recorded in the book of deeds of the deceased, and Allah Messenger (saws) spoke nothing but the truth.
Yes, the Messenger of Allah (saws) did say that if a righteous father brought up righteous God-fearing children, and the children prayed to Allah for the forgiveness of his sins, Allah would accept their prayers. But, the Messenger of Allah (saws) did not recommend nor did he himself, gather the whole congregation and do rasms like ‘khatm-ul-Quran’ and the feeding of people (fateha) on specially marked days like the 3rd, 10th, 30th, 40th, etc. These are the burdens we have put on ourselves, and they have absolutely no standing in Islam.
The Prophet (saws) did not do any of these acts, nor did he recommend the muslims to do it. These rasms and rites were added to religion by the unscrupulous clergy and priests after the death of the Prophet (saws). We are commanded in the Holy Quran to follow the tradition or way of the Prophet (saws) and any changes in the way or tradition of the Prophet (saws) is known as a ‘bid’a’ or innovation. And we must stay away from every innovation to keep our deen and religion pure, and according to the guidance and principles of the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
The Prophet (saws) himself warned that there will come a time when people will add and subtract from the deen of Islam at will. He cursed the people who introduced an innovation in Islam, and those who followed it.
It has been reported by Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (r.a.) that the
Prophet (saws) said: If anyone introduces an innovation (in religion), he will
be responsible for it. If anyone
introduces an innovation or gives shelter to a man who introduces an innovation
(in religion), he is cursed by
Allah, by His angels, and by all the people.
It has been reported by Jabir ibn Abdullah (r.a.) in another
authentic narration that the Prophet of Allah (saws) said in a sermon: “The best speech is that which is embodied
in the Book of Allah, the Al Quran; and the best guidance is the guidance given
by me, Mohamed (saws). The most evil
affairs are the innovations, and every innovation is an error.”
Thus the rasms of ‘khatm-ul-Quran’ and the feeding of the congregation (fateha) on specially appointed days like the 3rd, 10th, 30th, 40th, etc. are nothing but innovations in Islam and must be avoided, if indeed we fear Allah and the Last Day.
Another point to note here is that when one says the traditional fateha, he recites the first Surah of the Holy Quran, Surah Fateha. If only we would try to understand the meaning of the aayahs of this Surah, one would realize, that in fact we are supplicating Allah for ourselves and not the dead person! We are begging Allah to guide ‘us’ to the Straight Path. We are begging Allah to guide ‘us’ to the Path which Allah has bestowed His Grace, and keep ‘us’ away from the way of those people who have earned His Anger, and from the way of the people who have gone astray! This supplication is for ‘us’ and not for the dead person. Thus, even logically, it does not make sense to pray fateha on the dead person.
If indeed you want to pray for the dead person, just raise your hands and pray to Allah to forgive the sins of the deceased brother. Pray to Allah to have mercy on the soul of the deceased. Pray to Allah to make the deceased brother’s feet firm when answering the questions to the angels in the grave. Pray to Allah to make the space in the grave of the deceased brother wide and fill it with noor and light. Pray to Allah to grant Paradise to the brother who is deceased. This would help the deceased! But gathering the whole congregation and eating a feast will do no good to the deceased, and it will be nothing but a burden to the family of the deceased. The Messenger of Allah (saws) forbade the muslims to burden the family of the deceased, and instead advised us to bring food for the family for three days.
These rites and rituals of doing ‘Khatm ul Quran’ and ‘fateha’ on the deceased have absolutely no place in Islam, and are introduced by the unscrupulous clergy and leaders in the name of religion. We are commanded to follow the Messenger of Allah (saws) by Allah in the Glorious Quran, and the Messenger of Allah (saws) did no such rasms. Thus, if we indeed claim to follow the Messenger of Allah (saws), we should abstain from these innovations and bidah in Islam.
And Allah Alone Knows Best, and He is the Only Source of Strength.
May Allah guide you and us all to the Siraat al-Mustaqeem
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and well wisher in Islam,
