On Some Customs in Funerals: When a Person Dies, People Gather for Several Days, Ending on the Seventh Day or the Day After, Which Is Called the Khatmah
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The questioner : My question is about some customs in funerals. When a person dies, people gather for several days, ending on the seventh day or the day after, which is called the khatmah. They slaughter some animals, and those who gather donate whatever they can, which is paid to the host of the funeral. Those who paid these amounts come on the seventh day and eat from what was slaughtered, believing that they have shared in the deceased’s reward. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has forbidden us from doing this. We ask for clarification. May Allah guide you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. There is no doubt that the best guidance is the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and that every religious innovation (bid'ah) that appeared after him in the religion of Allah the Exalted is misguidance, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in his comprehensive statement: These innovations introduced upon the death of a person, such as these funerals where people gather and prepare food and recitations, are all innovations (bid'ah) from which one must forbid and warn. What the bereaved should do is say what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded: Sahih Muslim 918a This occurred in several matters, the most prominent of which is what happened to the Mother of the Believers, Umm Salimah (may Allah be pleased with her), when her husband Abu Salimah died. She loved him intensely and had heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Sahih Muslim 918b So, upon her affliction with Abu Salimah, she said that out of faith in the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but in her heart she thought, “Who is better than Abu Salimah?” When her waiting period ended, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) proposed to her, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was better for her than Abu Salimah (may Allah be pleased with him). This is what a person is commanded to do. As for the practice of the khatmah, this is based on a matter in which scholars have disagreed: the sending of rewards to the deceased. Scholars agreed on the permissibility of sending specific acts of worship, but they differed on other matters. Among the points of disagreement is whether reciting the Qur'an for the deceased reaches them or not. However, what these people do by hiring reciters for a fee definitely does not reach them, because the man who recites does so to earn a worldly wage, so his work is not pure for Allah.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : If worship is not pure for Allah, it is not accepted. And if it is not accepted, the deceased does not benefit from it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, if they hire someone to recite the khatmah for this deceased person, the fee is invalid and not valid, and the work or the reward of the work does not reach the deceased, even if we were to say there is a reward, though we do not say there is a reward in it, because it is not a work pure for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And Allah the Exalted said:[Hud 11:15-16]
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, it is not permissible to hire a man to recite the khatmah for the soul of the deceased, because this lease is invalid, and the reward, if it is considered, does not reach the deceased due to the invalidity of the contract. And if no reward is considered in it, which is what is derived from the Shari'ah evidence, then it becomes a material loss for the family of the deceased with no benefit for the deceased. Yes.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. There is no doubt that the best guidance is the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and that every religious innovation (bid'ah) that appeared after him in the religion of Allah the Exalted is misguidance, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in his comprehensive statement:
Every innovation is misguidance.
كل بدعة ضلالةO Allah, reward me for my affliction and give me something better than it in exchange for it
اللهم أجرني في مصيبتي وأخلف لي خيرا منهاIf any servant (of Allah) who suffers a calamity says:" We belong to Allah and to Him shall we return; O Allah, reward me for my affliction and give me something better than it in exchange for it," ' Allah will give him reward for affliction, and would give him something better than it in exchange.
ما من مسلم يُصاب بمصيبة فيقول اللهم أجرني في مصيبتي وأخلف لي خيرا منها إلا ءاجره الله في مصيبته وأخلف له خيرا منهاThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : If worship is not pure for Allah, it is not accepted. And if it is not accepted, the deceased does not benefit from it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, if they hire someone to recite the khatmah for this deceased person, the fee is invalid and not valid, and the work or the reward of the work does not reach the deceased, even if we were to say there is a reward, though we do not say there is a reward in it, because it is not a work pure for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And Allah the Exalted said:
(15) Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornments - We fully repay them for their deeds therein, and they therein will not be deprived. (16) Those are the ones for whom there is not in the Hereafter but the Fire. And lost is what they did therein, and worthless is what they used to do.
من كان يريد الحياة الدنيا وزينتها نوف إليهم أعمالهم فيها وهم فيها لا يبخسون * أولئك الذين ليس لهم في الآخرة إلا النار وحبط ما صنعوا فيها وباطل ما كانوا يعملونThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, it is not permissible to hire a man to recite the khatmah for the soul of the deceased, because this lease is invalid, and the reward, if it is considered, does not reach the deceased due to the invalidity of the contract. And if no reward is considered in it, which is what is derived from the Shari'ah evidence, then it becomes a material loss for the family of the deceased with no benefit for the deceased. Yes.