The ruling on reciting over the grave after burial
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said that it is recommended to recite something from the Qur'an after burying the deceased. He meant that reciting the entire Qur'an would be good, and that was the practice of 'Umar. He also recommended reciting the beginning and end of Surat al-Baqarah over the grave after burial.
The Shaykh:
Yes, some scholars have held this view, but there is no evidence for it. The correct position is that it is not prescribed and is a bid'ah (religious innovation), because there is no evidence for it in the Sunnah. When a mujtahid (scholar qualified to derive rulings) does not align with the evidence, his opinion is not followed; his statement is set aside, whether it is al-Shafi'i's or anyone else's, as long as there is no evidence for it. Therefore, this is an action that is not permissible. He is a mujtahid, and a mujtahid may err or be correct. Amen. O Allah, return our Prophet Muhammad. You see, tomorrow there is no lesson; the lesson will be on Saturday, if Allah wills. Yes. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said that it is recommended to recite something from the Qur'an after burying the deceased. He meant that reciting the entire Qur'an would be good, and that was the practice of 'Umar. He also recommended reciting the beginning and end of Surat al-Baqarah over the grave after burial.
The Shaykh:
Yes, some scholars have held this view, but there is no evidence for it. The correct position is that it is not prescribed and is a bid'ah (religious innovation), because there is no evidence for it in the Sunnah. When a mujtahid (scholar qualified to derive rulings) does not align with the evidence, his opinion is not followed; his statement is set aside, whether it is al-Shafi'i's or anyone else's, as long as there is no evidence for it. Therefore, this is an action that is not permissible. He is a mujtahid, and a mujtahid may err or be correct. Amen. O Allah, return our Prophet Muhammad. You see, tomorrow there is no lesson; the lesson will be on Saturday, if Allah wills. Yes. Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب العدة والإحداد — islamhouse.com (57:40)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.