The Ruling on Reciting the Qur'an for a Fee and Dedication of the Reward to the Deceased

This message came from the Democratic Republic of Yemen, and it was sent by the listener Mahfuz Muhammad al-Bakri. Mahfuz says in it: It is the custom in my country that when a person dies, people recite whatever is easy for them of the Noble Qur'an for three days. A relative of the deceased hires a person—by paying him to recite the Qur'an—and hires him to recite the Book of Allah for a specific amount. Then these recitations are given and dedicated to the spirit of the deceased. What is the ruling on this recitation? And does it reach the spirit of the dead? May Allah reward you.
Answer: This is a recitation that is a religious innovation (bid'ah) with no basis in the Shari'ah. Nothing has come in the Shari'ah indicating its recommendation (mustahabb) or its permissibility. Therefore, it is obligatory to leave it off and not do it. Then, what reward does the one who hires [a reciter] have? Because he did not recite except for a fee. The scholars have agreed (ijma') that it is not permissible to hire someone to recite the Qur'an. So, what reward does the one who hires [a reciter] to recite for the dead or the living have, when he did not recite for Allah, but rather recited for the fee! So what is there to dedicate!
The point is that this is reprehensible (munkar) and not permissible. The one who hires [a reciter] to recite has committed a great reprehensible act and a forbidden act (muharram) by consensus. He has no reward to dedicate, so it is not permissible to do this. Rather, what is prescribed (mashru') is to make supplication for him and to console his family. As for their arranging for people to recite, hiring people to recite for the dead, and dedicating the reward of that to him, it has no basis. Hiring for this is reprehensible and invalid (batil). Yes.