The ruling on one who persists in the innovation of reciting the Qur'an over the deceased before and after burial, and slaughtering a sheep for those who attended the funeral
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The first question of Fatwa No. ( 3227 ):
Q1: What is the ruling on the innovator who persists in his innovation of reciting the Qur'an over the deceased before and after burial, and slaughtering a sheep to prepare food for those who came to attend the funeral, and reciting the tawassul of the Qadiriyyah , including: "Sahl maradana bi-jaah Ahmad" (Make our wish easy by the status of Ahmad), and placing incense burners in their gatherings, and other such things, and accompanying the funeral procession with takbir, and instructing the deceased at the grave. Some scholars say: They are disbelievers because they contradict the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) warning against innovations. And some say: They are Muslims who are sinners.
A1: Innovations are not all of the same degree of evil; rather, some are disbelief, and some are sin short of disbelief. So reciting the Qur'an over the deceased before
his burial or after it, and slaughtering a sheep, for example, to prepare food for those who attended to accompany the funeral, and accompanying the funeral procession with takbir, and instructing the deceased at the grave, and the collective dhikr circle and placing incense burners in it — these are among the innovations that people have introduced, for they were not established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by word, deed, or approval, nor were they established from his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) or from the imams of the righteous Salaf (may Allah have mercy on them). So these are among the sins, and persisting in them makes them major sins, but they are not disbelief, except in the case of one who knows that it is an innovation and persists in it, intending thereby to rival the Shari'ah of Allah with legislation from himself; misleading the common people and diverting them from the straight path. He is a disbeliever by legislating intentionally what Allah has not permitted, and by deeming it permissible to contradict the Shari'ah of Allah. And calling upon the dead and seeking their aid like 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani , and Ahmad al-Tijani , and the like of them, to bring benefit or ward off harm or relieve distress, and the like of that, is shirk (associating partners with Allah) and disbelief in Him, like the shirk and disbelief of the first age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called its people to tawhid (the oneness of Allah), and fought those who persisted in their shirk and fought them for it. Allah the Exalted said, after describing Himself with the attributes of Lordship:
That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs sovereignty. And those whom you invoke other than Him do not possess [as much as] the membrane of a date seed. (14) If you invoke them, they do not hear your supplication; and if they heard, they would not respond to you. And on the Day of Resurrection they will deny your association. And none can inform you like [one] Acquainted [with all matters].
ذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِنْ قِطْمِيرٍ (13) إِنْ تَدْعُوهُمْ لاَ يَسْمَعُوا دُعَاءَكُمْ وَلَوْ سَمِعُوا مَا اسْتَجَابُوا لَكُمْ وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَكْفُرُونَ بِشِرْكِكُمْ وَلاَ يُنَبِّئُكَ مِثْلُ خَبِيرٍAnd some innovations may be a close means to shirk; such as the saying of some Sufis: "Sahl maradana bi-jaah Ahmad" (Make our wish easy by the status of Ahmad), and like circumambulating the shrines as a means of drawing near to Allah, for if one intends to draw near to the wali (close friend of Allah) thereby, it becomes major shirk, and like traveling a long distance to visit the graves of the righteous. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.