What is the ruling on gathering to recite the Qur'an for a deceased person?

Question : The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, it has become customary that when any person dies, a group comes to recite the Qur'an for the deceased, and they feed them. The question is: Does the reward of reciting the Qur'an reach the deceased? And what is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view regarding this?

Answer : We hold that this gathering is a bid'ah (religious innovation), meaning gathering at the house of the deceased to recite the Qur'an for his soul, as they claim. It was not known in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or the time of his Companions. Rather, they considered preparing food and gathering for it in the house of the deceased to be part of wailing, and wailing is among the major sins. If a reciter is brought to recite in this gathering, it becomes more severe, greater, and closer to a major bid'ah in this matter. This is because reciting the Qur'an in this situation carries no reward, since the reciter agrees with them on a fee to recite the Qur'an. Whoever recites the Qur'an for a fee has no reward, and if he has no reward, the deceased will not benefit from it. Yes, we have mentioned that this is not the way of the Salaf (the earliest generations), and that they considered it to be part of wailing.