The Ruling on Reciting the Qur'an at Funerals and Taking a Fee for It
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, what is the ruling on reciting the Qur'an at funerals and taking a fee for it?
The Shaykh:
All of this is a religious innovation (bid'ah), and taking a fee for it is forbidden (haram), because it is consuming wealth unjustly. Therefore, one does not recite the Qur'an at funerals. Rather, the condolence is to say to the bereaved: "May Allah improve your consolation, may Allah console you for your loss, and may Allah forgive your deceased," without holding a gathering for condolences, setting aside days for it, or preparing food. All of this is an innovation and a newly invented matter. Yes.
The questioner:
Why, Shaykh Salih, have people expanded the scope of condolences? We hear about many of these innovations you mentioned, such as setting up canopies and receiving people. Why have people expanded on this, Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
This is from the practices of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), and this action is not permissible. It must be prevented. One of the Companions said, "We used to consider gathering at the house of the deceased and preparing food for them to be part of wailing, and wailing is forbidden." So all these matters are newly invented and must be abandoned and prohibited. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, what is the ruling on reciting the Qur'an at funerals and taking a fee for it?
The Shaykh:
All of this is a religious innovation (bid'ah), and taking a fee for it is forbidden (haram), because it is consuming wealth unjustly. Therefore, one does not recite the Qur'an at funerals. Rather, the condolence is to say to the bereaved: "May Allah improve your consolation, may Allah console you for your loss, and may Allah forgive your deceased," without holding a gathering for condolences, setting aside days for it, or preparing food. All of this is an innovation and a newly invented matter. Yes.
The questioner:
Why, Shaykh Salih, have people expanded the scope of condolences? We hear about many of these innovations you mentioned, such as setting up canopies and receiving people. Why have people expanded on this, Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
This is from the practices of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), and this action is not permissible. It must be prevented. One of the Companions said, "We used to consider gathering at the house of the deceased and preparing food for them to be part of wailing, and wailing is forbidden." So all these matters are newly invented and must be abandoned and prohibited. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [3924] حكم قراءة القرآن في العزاء وأخذ الأجرة عليه - صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.