Quran Khwani When Someone Dies

Society Religion & Philosophy
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Ok so someone really close to me passed away a few days ago, their condition had been deteriorating and it was their wish to see me get married so we had arranged that in an emergency to fulfil their wish but before that could happen they passed away. My parents are gone to Pak and I had to stay at home to look after my younger brothers as the aunt who was to look after them has also gone to Pak.

My mom told me to arrange a Quran Khwani at the Mosque but a brother told me Quran Khwani doesn’t benefit the dead, only prayer and charity given in their name does, I’m confused as what to do, I tried emailing a Fatwa site but their quota has been exceeded.

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Re: Quran Khwani When Someone Dies

Dude personally I don't see anything wrong in Quran Khani... this is how I personally think of it... if one dies and you do a gathering... lets say call your friends and have a scholar give a religous lecture or something.. if people learn anything good from them something that might have a positive impact in their lives.. you might get the sawaab to do the good deed .. so does the person who passed since the function was organized for them.... its like after one dies.. if his kids do something good... don't the parents get sawab for the good job they did raising them... similarly reciting Quran is a sawab so I don't see no harm in it.. but again.. I am not an aalim...

May Allah protect the readers from any erros within..... Ameen

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Re: Quran Khwani When Someone Dies

Sayyid Sabiq writes in Fiqh al Sunnah (4/4.86) under the heading: The Deeds that Benefit the Departed Souls and Proffering Reward for Good Deeds to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

"-6- Recitation of the Qur'an. This is beneficial to the deceased according to the opinion of the majority of the scholars among the ahl al-sunnah.

An-Nawawi said, "The most well-known position of the Shafi'i school is that this does not benefit the deceased." Ahmad ibn Hanbal and a group of Shafi' i scholars hold that it does benefit the deceased. The reciter has an option. He may supplicate for the deceased to be rewarded for the recitation, saying: "O Allah! Grant the reward of what I recited to so-and-so."

Ibn Qudamah in al-Mughni stated, "Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, 'The deceased will receive the reward for every good done on his behalf. This is proved by textual evidence found on this subject. The fact that Muslims in every city gather to recite the Qur'an for the benefit of the deceased and that they have been doing so without any disagreement or disapproval show that there is consensus on this subject'."

Those who hold that the deceased benefits by the recitation of others make it conditional upon the reciter not to accept any payment for his recitation. If the reciter is paid for reciting, it is unlawful for both the giver and the receiver, and he shall have no reward for his reciting. Abd Ar Rahman ibn Shibl reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Recite the Qur'an, and do good deeds .... Do not neglect it, nor be extreme in it. Do not make it a means of living nor a source of your wealth.'' (Reported by Ahmad, At-Tabarani, and Al-Baihaqi)

Ibn al-Qayyim said, "Worship is of two types: financial and physical. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has informed us that because charity (sadaqah) benefits the deceased, all other acts of charity will also benefit the deceased, and that because fasting on his behalf benefits the deceased, all other physical acts of worship will likewise benefit the deceased. Similarly the Prophet, peace be upon him, informed us that the reward of making Hajj, which involves both physical and financial sacrifice, does indeed benefit the deceased. Thus these three types of beneficial acts of worship are supported by both the revealed texts and reason." [end quote]

opinions vary... this may be because there doesn't appear to be any explicit text from the Prophet (saw) confirming that the reward for reciting the Qur'an can be donated to the deceased...

the last paragraph above citing Ibn al Qayyim would seem to indicate that transferring the reward for reciting the Qur'an to the deceased is based on an analogy (qiyas) with transferring rewards from other good deeds for which there are hadith texts - such as charity benefiting the deceased, performing Hajj on behalf of someone who has passed away etc...

but there is one problem with this analogy however that should be looked into... in many (or perhaps even all?) of the instances where the Prophet (saw) permitted someone to perform Hajj (for example) on behalf of a dead person it was usually that person's child requesting permission to do so and it was sometimes because the deceased individual had made a commitment before passing away to perform Hajj or to give some charity or fast and so someone else stepped forward on their behalf to fulfil that commitment...

do these examples resemble the situation where a relative or friend donates his Qur'an recital to the deceased? is the analogy sound?

of course, the prayers and good deeds of the deceased's children benefit him/her as is explicitly stated in hadith since parents have responsibility for their childrens' upbringing and hence their righteousness forms part of the parents' own good deeds... in the same way that teaching someone to do something good continues to benefit the teacher even after death so long as the person keeps up with what they were taught... the greatest teacher being the Prophet (saw) who earns the reward and benefits from the good done by his ummah in every generation since his da'wah led to their guidance