What is the ruling on the family of the deceased performing a Qur'anic khatmah (complete recitation) for the deceased two years after his death?
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Question:
When a person dies, and after the period of punishment has passed, which is about two years or half a year, the family of the deceased performs a Qur'anic khatmah for the deceased. They gather, and a number of reciters or those who are skilled in reading the Book of Allah gather. After the recitation, food and drinks are presented to the reciters and those who read the Noble Qur'an as food for them. After the meal is finished, one of the shaykhs makes a supplication for that deceased person. I ask you, your Excellencies, to inform us about this matter: is it among the prescribed and permissible matters, or do you have another opinion? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for condolences, they are only for the days close to the death and the occurrence of the calamity, because the family of the deceased are considered to be with their deceased one, so their consolation and condolences follow by saying, "May Allah improve your consolation and forgive [the deceased]." Also, if they are in need of food being prepared for them, because they are known for the calamity, this is also from the Sunnah, that food is presented for them to eat, and as consolation for them. But after time has passed and the period has become long, the condolences end, and what remains is supplication for the deceased, charity on his behalf, and doing good for him, as came in the hadiths.
As for reading the Qur'an and dedicating its reward to the deceased, this is a matter of disagreement among the scholars, and the correct view is that it is not prescribed, because there is no evidence for it, this if the reading is without payment.
That is, a person reads voluntarily with a good intention and seeking reward from Allah, then he dedicates the reward of that to the deceased; this is the matter of disagreement. But if it is in the manner mentioned by the questioner, with payment to the reciters, then this is an act that is not prescribed, and an act of heedlessness, and specifying it for a certain period has no basis. The one who reads for payment has no reward, because he did not read seeking reward, but rather he read only for the sake of the payment, so he has no reward, even to be sent to the deceased. If the family of the deceased had given this payment as charity, and they had given it to the poor, that would be the prescribed thing. But that they hire a reader with it to read the Qur'an, this has no basis, and nothing of that reaches the deceased. The prescribed thing is that they give this payment as charity to a needy person. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
When a person dies, and after the period of punishment has passed, which is about two years or half a year, the family of the deceased performs a Qur'anic khatmah for the deceased. They gather, and a number of reciters or those who are skilled in reading the Book of Allah gather. After the recitation, food and drinks are presented to the reciters and those who read the Noble Qur'an as food for them. After the meal is finished, one of the shaykhs makes a supplication for that deceased person. I ask you, your Excellencies, to inform us about this matter: is it among the prescribed and permissible matters, or do you have another opinion? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for condolences, they are only for the days close to the death and the occurrence of the calamity, because the family of the deceased are considered to be with their deceased one, so their consolation and condolences follow by saying, "May Allah improve your consolation and forgive [the deceased]." Also, if they are in need of food being prepared for them, because they are known for the calamity, this is also from the Sunnah, that food is presented for them to eat, and as consolation for them. But after time has passed and the period has become long, the condolences end, and what remains is supplication for the deceased, charity on his behalf, and doing good for him, as came in the hadiths.
As for reading the Qur'an and dedicating its reward to the deceased, this is a matter of disagreement among the scholars, and the correct view is that it is not prescribed, because there is no evidence for it, this if the reading is without payment.
That is, a person reads voluntarily with a good intention and seeking reward from Allah, then he dedicates the reward of that to the deceased; this is the matter of disagreement. But if it is in the manner mentioned by the questioner, with payment to the reciters, then this is an act that is not prescribed, and an act of heedlessness, and specifying it for a certain period has no basis. The one who reads for payment has no reward, because he did not read seeking reward, but rather he read only for the sake of the payment, so he has no reward, even to be sent to the deceased. If the family of the deceased had given this payment as charity, and they had given it to the poor, that would be the prescribed thing. But that they hire a reader with it to read the Qur'an, this has no basis, and nothing of that reaches the deceased. The prescribed thing is that they give this payment as charity to a needy person. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم قيام أهل الميت بعمل ختمة قرآنية بعد وفاة الميت بعامين لهذا الميت؟ الشيخ صالح بن فوزان الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.