What is the authenticity of the hadith: “Teach your dying ones al-Isra,” and what is its meaning?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : ... and reminding the dying person of the word of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), so that perhaps it will be their end on a good conclusion, as happened with that Jewish boy.
So, in brief, the hadith is weak. Even if it were authentic, its meaning is teaching the dying person, not the dead person who has already passed away.
The questioner : ... ؟
The Shaykh : Absolutely, there is nothing in it that benefits the dead person.
The questioner : Definitively.
The Shaykh : Remove from your mind the idea that you can benefit the dead person in any way, because the verse says:[An-Najm 53:36-39], a divine system He established for the happiness of people in this world and the Hereafter. A person must live a material life; he has to eat and drink and earn. If there is a person near you or far away who is going to die of hunger, if you eat and become full and sated, he will not feel your fullness or your hunger, nor will he benefit from any of that fullness you obtained. Likewise, say this about quenching thirst, likewise about clothing, and likewise if you purify yourself by obeying Allah, by remembering Allah, and by reciting His Book, others will not benefit from you at all, except if you are the cause of that good, as came in the previous hadith Riyad as-Salihin 949.
The questioner : Okay, does this fall under the category of a righteous son?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : Does it not fall under the category of a righteous son?
The Shaykh : Who?
The questioner : If the son reads for his father?
The Shaykh : That is not what I am telling you. Then you read for your son, you read for your brother, you read for your neighbor, for your friend, for your close one. This does not benefit them at all. But the son from the father and mother is from their effort, so he is a trace of their traces. That is why I wanted to draw your attention to this hadith time after time: Every person Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1376Sahih (Darussalam), for example, if you dug a well in a place where there was no water, then every time people, livestock, birds, and beasts drink from it, all of it is good deeds that enter your grave continuously. If you built a mosque, for example, every time people pray in it, you get its reward, because this is a trace of your traces, of your work, and so on.
Sahih Muslim 1631, a man who left behind books from which people benefit with correct knowledge, or who left behind students of knowledge who spread knowledge among people, these are traces of this scholar’s traces, and so on. But if you read al-Fatihah for me, I will not receive anything, because this is not a trace of yours in your reading of al-Fatihah. Turn the example around: the scholar, the reciter who taught you the Qur'an, every time you read from the Qur'an, he gets a reward, because he was the cause of teaching you, and so on. But the general, comprehensive expansion that Muslims are following, where everyone passes by a cemetery or goes to visit a relative, a close one, or a friend, and reads al-Fatihah at the very least.
The people in the cemetery do not benefit at all. If they benefit from anything, it is a righteous supplication from you, because the righteous supplication in the Noble Qur'an is:[Al-Hashr 59:10].
So supplication may be answered; if it is answered, it benefits, and if it is not answered, in any case it is a drawing near to Allah the Mighty and Majestic. As for reading khatmahs and alfiyyahs, and I do not know what things people have expanded upon greatly, these do not benefit people at all, especially when reading has turned into a trade. That is, the dead person dies today, and it is necessary that a reader be brought who is famous and has a melodious voice, and the amount he is satisfied with is paid to him, and he reads. Neither the one who faced it benefited, nor the dead person for whose soul the Qur'an was read benefited at all. And if this money given to this wealthy reader had been given to a poor person, it would have been written as a reward for the giver, and if it was a son, it would also reach the parents.
And so on, meaning this is among the things we hinted at. How people changed the description, the prescription, they changed it so it became for nothing.
The questioner : ... a house with poor people, is it considered from ongoing charity?
The Shaykh : Yes.
So, in brief, the hadith is weak. Even if it were authentic, its meaning is teaching the dying person, not the dead person who has already passed away.
The questioner : ... ؟
The Shaykh : Absolutely, there is nothing in it that benefits the dead person.
The questioner : Definitively.
The Shaykh : Remove from your mind the idea that you can benefit the dead person in any way, because the verse says:
(36) Or has he not been informed of what was in the scriptures of Moses (37) And [of] Abraham, who fulfilled [his obligations] - (38) That no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another (39) And that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives
أَمْ لَمْ يُنَبَّأْ بِمَا فِي صُحُفِ مُوسَى * وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ الَّذِي وَفَّى* أَلَّا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى* وَأَنْ لَيْسَ لِلإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىWhen a man dies, his deeds come to an end, except for three: A continuous charity, knowledge by which people derive benefit, pious son who prays for him.
إذا مات الإنسان انقطع عمله إلا من ثلاث صدقة جارية، أو علم ينتفع به، أو ولد صالح يدعو لهThe questioner : Okay, does this fall under the category of a righteous son?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : Does it not fall under the category of a righteous son?
The Shaykh : Who?
The questioner : If the son reads for his father?
The Shaykh : That is not what I am telling you. Then you read for your son, you read for your brother, you read for your neighbor, for your friend, for your close one. This does not benefit them at all. But the son from the father and mother is from their effort, so he is a trace of their traces. That is why I wanted to draw your attention to this hadith time after time:
When a person dies.
إذا مات الإنسانhis deeds are cut off except for three: Continuing charity
انقطع عمله إلا من ثلاث صدقة جاريةrecurring charity, or knowledge (by which people) benefit
صدقة جارية أو علم يُنتفع بهThe people in the cemetery do not benefit at all. If they benefit from anything, it is a righteous supplication from you, because the righteous supplication in the Noble Qur'an is:
Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord,
ربنا اغفر لنا ولإخواننا الذين سبقونا بالإيمان ربنا ولا تجعل في قلوبنا غلًا للذين أمنواSo supplication may be answered; if it is answered, it benefits, and if it is not answered, in any case it is a drawing near to Allah the Mighty and Majestic. As for reading khatmahs and alfiyyahs, and I do not know what things people have expanded upon greatly, these do not benefit people at all, especially when reading has turned into a trade. That is, the dead person dies today, and it is necessary that a reader be brought who is famous and has a melodious voice, and the amount he is satisfied with is paid to him, and he reads. Neither the one who faced it benefited, nor the dead person for whose soul the Qur'an was read benefited at all. And if this money given to this wealthy reader had been given to a poor person, it would have been written as a reward for the giver, and if it was a son, it would also reach the parents.
And so on, meaning this is among the things we hinted at. How people changed the description, the prescription, they changed it so it became for nothing.
The questioner : ... a house with poor people, is it considered from ongoing charity?
The Shaykh : Yes.