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False belief that reading Qur’aan remains suspended if the reward for reading is not given to the deceased

29-12-2000

Question 8596

I have heard that when we finish reading one entire Qur'an  we are supposed to say a dua so that the reward of the recitaion reaches deceased Muslims .And if we dont do this then the Qur'an is left 'hanging ' between the earth and sky and the reward for its recitation is reduced .'Baksh ' is the word in Urdu for this, I don't know what it is in English or Arabic . Does this have any truth in it?

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

This is not correct at all; in fact it is one of the innovations (bid’ah) of which we must beware .  

Shaykh Sa’d al-Humayd  

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):  

“To Him ascend (all) the goodly words, and the righteous deeds exalt it” [Faatir 35:10]

So our reading Qur’aan, if it is done for the sake of Allaah and from a pious heart, is accepted and ascends to Allaah, It is not detained between the heavens and the earth. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, Allaah accepts only from those who are Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)” [al-Maa’idah 5:27]  

Part of being pious is avoiding bid’ah and shunning false beliefs which are based on ignorance. The commonly held belief that the reward for reading Qur’aan reaches the dead cannot be taken as definitive. The evidence (daleel) of sharee’ah does not indicate that, so giving the reward for reading Qur’aan to the deceased is not an action that is prescribed by sharee’ah. And Allaah is the Source of strength.

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