The Ruling on Reciting for the Sick, Bestowing Its Reward, and Taking a Fee for It
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His Eminence the Shaykh: Is it permissible to recite the Qur'an for a sick person for the sake of Allah the Exalted, saying: "O Allah, make its reward for so-and-so," or to recite for him for a fee?
This depends on the bestowing of the reciters' rewards; is it permissible or not? There is scholarly disagreement on this issue. What a person should do is not to bestow his good deeds upon anyone, whoever they may be, but rather to keep his good deeds for himself and make du'a' for his brothers who deserve supplication.
And I cannot say: Perhaps you mean reciting over the sick person so that he may be healed, because you say: "I do not want this."
As for the fee, if a person wants to recite over a sick person and says to the patient: "I will recite for such and such an amount for the sake of healing and recovery," then there is nothing wrong with this. This is because the Companions who stayed as guests with a group of Arabs, and the Arabs did not host them, Allah sent a scorpion with a severe sting upon their leader. The scorpion stung him, so they sought someone to recite over him.And they came to the Companions, and the Companions said: "We will not recite except for such and such an amount," and they mentioned a number of sheep, so they gave them to the Companions. One of the Companions stood over this stung man and began to recite Surat al-Fatihah over him. The man stood up as if he had been untied from a rope. When they reached al-Madinah and informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of this, it seemed that they, may Allah be pleased with them, were in doubt about the permissibility of this compensation.He said: (Take it and make a share for me with you) said he (peace and blessings be upon him). This was to please their hearts, for he was not in need of asking them to give it to him; but it was to please the heart.And from this we derive a useful principle, which is: If the person you are speaking to does not accept it, or his heart is not at ease unless you do what you told him, then do it; for this is among the good.
This depends on the bestowing of the reciters' rewards; is it permissible or not? There is scholarly disagreement on this issue. What a person should do is not to bestow his good deeds upon anyone, whoever they may be, but rather to keep his good deeds for himself and make du'a' for his brothers who deserve supplication.
And I cannot say: Perhaps you mean reciting over the sick person so that he may be healed, because you say: "I do not want this."
As for the fee, if a person wants to recite over a sick person and says to the patient: "I will recite for such and such an amount for the sake of healing and recovery," then there is nothing wrong with this. This is because the Companions who stayed as guests with a group of Arabs, and the Arabs did not host them, Allah sent a scorpion with a severe sting upon their leader. The scorpion stung him, so they sought someone to recite over him.And they came to the Companions, and the Companions said: "We will not recite except for such and such an amount," and they mentioned a number of sheep, so they gave them to the Companions. One of the Companions stood over this stung man and began to recite Surat al-Fatihah over him. The man stood up as if he had been untied from a rope. When they reached al-Madinah and informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of this, it seemed that they, may Allah be pleased with them, were in doubt about the permissibility of this compensation.He said: (Take it and make a share for me with you) said he (peace and blessings be upon him). This was to please their hearts, for he was not in need of asking them to give it to him; but it was to please the heart.And from this we derive a useful principle, which is: If the person you are speaking to does not accept it, or his heart is not at ease unless you do what you told him, then do it; for this is among the good.