70317: Reading
Qur’aan together, giving good deeds to the dead, and al-Mawlid al-Nabawi
(celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him))
On every last Sunday
of the month, we get together with a group of 30 or more sisters and each of us
reads two or three hizb (portions of Qur’aan) until we complete the Holy
Qur’aan in one and a half or two hours. We have been told that this will count
– in sha Allaah – as a completion of the Qur’aan for each one of us. Is that
correct? After that we make du’aa’ and ask Allaah to give the reward for our
reading to the rest of the believers, living and dead. Will the reward reach
the dead? They quote as evidence for that the words of our master Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “When a man dies, all his good
deeds come to an end except three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge or a
righteous son who will pray for him.”
On the festival of the Prophet’s birthday (al-mawlid al-nabawi), they hold a ribaat (vigil) which starts at 10 a.m. and lasts until 3 p.m. They start with prayers for forgiveness, praise of Allaah, tasbeeh and takbeer, and sending blessings upon our master Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) silently, then they read the Qur’aan, and some sisters fast on that day. Is singling out this day for all these acts of worship regarded as an innovation (bid’ah)? We also have a lengthy du’aa’ seeking blessing that we say at the time of suhoor, for those who are able to say it. It is called du’aa’ al-raabitah. It starts by sending blessings and salaams upon our master Muhammad and his party and the other Prophets, and the Mothers of the Believers, and the female companions of the Prophet, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the Taabi’een, and the righteous close friends (awliya’) of Allaah, mentioning each of them by name. Is it correct that mentioning all these names will make their owners recognize us and call out to us in Paradise? Is this du’aa’ an innovation? I feel that it is, but most of the sisters disagree with me. Will I be punished by Allaah if I am wrong? How can I convince them if I am correct? This matter is making me lose sleep and every time I remember the hadeeth of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which says that every newly-invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is a going-astray, and every going-astray will be in the Fire, my worry and grief get even worse.
On the festival of the Prophet’s birthday (al-mawlid al-nabawi), they hold a ribaat (vigil) which starts at 10 a.m. and lasts until 3 p.m. They start with prayers for forgiveness, praise of Allaah, tasbeeh and takbeer, and sending blessings upon our master Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) silently, then they read the Qur’aan, and some sisters fast on that day. Is singling out this day for all these acts of worship regarded as an innovation (bid’ah)? We also have a lengthy du’aa’ seeking blessing that we say at the time of suhoor, for those who are able to say it. It is called du’aa’ al-raabitah. It starts by sending blessings and salaams upon our master Muhammad and his party and the other Prophets, and the Mothers of the Believers, and the female companions of the Prophet, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the Taabi’een, and the righteous close friends (awliya’) of Allaah, mentioning each of them by name. Is it correct that mentioning all these names will make their owners recognize us and call out to us in Paradise? Is this du’aa’ an innovation? I feel that it is, but most of the sisters disagree with me. Will I be punished by Allaah if I am wrong? How can I convince them if I am correct? This matter is making me lose sleep and every time I remember the hadeeth of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which says that every newly-invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is a going-astray, and every going-astray will be in the Fire, my worry and grief get even worse.
Praise be to
Allaah.
Firstly:
In the
saheeh Sunnah there are many reports which speak of the virtues of gathering to
read the Book of Allaah, but in order for the Muslim to attain those rewards,
he should ensure that the gathering is in accordance with sharee’ah. One of the
prescribed ways in which people may gather to read Qur’aan is for the people
gathered to read together for the purpose of study, learning the meanings and
how to recite properly. Another kind of gathering that is prescribed is for
each of them to read and the others to listen, so that they may ponder the
meanings of the verses. Both are mentioned in the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
For more
information please see question no. 22722,
which explains the ruling on gathering to read the Qur’aan.
With regard
to what each person reads being counted as a khatmah (complete reading of the
Qur’aan) for each of them, this is not correct, because none of them has read
the entire Qur’aan, or even listened to it, rather each of them has read a part
of it, so they will only be rewarded for whatever they have read of the
Qur’aan.
The scholars
of the Standing Committee said:
Distributing
ajza’ or parts of the Qur’aan to those who are present so that each one of them
may read a hizb of the Qur’aan is not necessarily regarded as a khatmah or
complete reading of the Qur’aan on the part of each one of them. End
quote.
Fataawa
al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
2/480
Secondly:
It is not
prescribed to say du’aa’ together after reading Qur’aan, and it is not
permissible to pray that the reward for the reading go to any of the dead or
the living. Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not do
that, and neither did any of his companions (may Allaah be pleased with
them).
Shaykh ‘Abd
al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:
Is it
permissible for me to read the entire Qur’aan for my parents, knowing that they
are illiterate and cannot read or write? Is it permissible for me to read the
entire Qur’aan for a person who knows how to read and write, but I want to give
this khatmah to him? Is it permissible for me to read the entire Qur’aan for
more than one person?
He
replied:
There is no
report in the Holy Qur’aan or in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or from his companions (may Allaah be
pleased with them) to indicate that it is prescribed to give one's reading of
Qur’aan (or the reward thereof) to one's parents or to anyone else. Rather
Allaah has enjoined reading Qur’aan so that one may benefit from it, learn from
it, ponder its meanings and act upon it. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“(This is) a
Book (the Qur’aan) which We have sent down to you, full of blessings, that they
may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember”
[Saad
38:29]
“Verily,
this Qur’aan guides to that which is most just and right”
[al-Isra’
17:90]
“Say: It is
for those who believe, a guide and a healing”
[Fussilat
41:44]
And our
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Read the Qur’aan,
for it will come as an intercessor for its companions.” And he (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The Qur’aan will be brought on the Day
of Resurrection along with its people who used to act upon it, preceded by
Soorat al-Baqarah and Aal ‘Imraan, like two clouds or two flocks of birds,
spreading their wings, pleading on behalf of their companions (i.e., those who
used to read them).”
The point is
that it was revealed to be acted upon and pondered, to be read as an act of
worship and read a great deal, not to be given to the dead or to anyone else. I
do not know of any reliable basis for giving it to one’s parents or anyone
else. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever
does any action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours will have it
rejected.” Some of the scholars are of the view that that is permissible, and
they said: There is no reason why the reward for reading Qur’aan and other
righteous actions cannot be given to others, and they liken that to the case of
charity and du’aa’ for the deceased and others. But the correct view is the
first view, because of the hadeeth quoted above, and other similar reports. If
giving the reward for reading to another was permissible or prescribed, the
righteous salaf would have done it. It is not permissible to make analogies
with regard to acts of worship, because they can only be proven by a text from
the Book of Allaah, may He be blessed and exalted, or the Sunnah of His Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), because of the hadeeth quoted
above and other similar reports.
Majmoo’
Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 8/360,
361
With regard
to their quoting the hadeeth, “When the son of Adam dies, all his good deeds
come to an end…” this is not correct, rather if you think about it, you will
see that the hadeeth indicates that it is not prescribed to give the reward for
reading Qur’aan to the dead, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: “A son who will pray for him,” not “who will read Qur’aan
for him.”
Thirdly:
We should
not write the letter (S) or abbreviations for the blessing upon the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). If a person can write such a
lengthy question, he is not incapable of writing the blessing upon the Prophet
in full. We have already discussed the ruling on writing such abbreviations in
the answer to question no. 47976.
Fourthly:
Celebrating
the Prophet’s birthday (al-mawlid) is an innovation, and doing special acts of
worship on this day such as saying tasbeeh and tahmeed, observing i’tikaaf,
reading Qur’aan and fasting is an innovation for which a person will not
receive any reward, for these are all rejected.
It was
narrated from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever introduces anything
into this matter of ours that is not part of it will have it rejected.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2550; Muslim, 1718.
According to
a version narrated by Muslim (1718) he said: “Whoever does an action that is
not in accordance with this matter of ours will have it rejected.”
Al-Faakihaani
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
I do not
know of any basis for this mawlid in the Qur’aan or Sunnah, and there is no
report that any of the scholars of this ummah, who are examples in matters of
religion and adhere to the path of those who came before, did this. Rather it
is an innovation (bid’ah) which was introduced by those who have nothing better
to do, and it is a means for them to have fun and eat a lot.
Al-Mawrid fi
‘Aml al-Mawlid, quoted in Rasaa’il
fi Hukm al-Ihtifaal bi’l-Mawlid al-Nabawi, 1/8, 9
Shaykh ‘Abd
al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
If
celebrating the Prophet’s birthday was prescribed, then the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) would have told his ummah of that, because he
is the most sincere of people and there is no Prophet after him who could
explain anything he did not speak about. He (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) is the Seal of the Prophets and he explained to the people what he
had to explain of the truth, such as loving him and following his sharee’ah,
sending blessings and salaams upon him and other rights of his that are
explained in the Qur’aan and Sunnah. He did not tell his ummah that celebrating
the day of his birth was something prescribed so that they would do that. He
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not do that during his lifetime
and his companions (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who were the
dearest of people to him and the most knowledgeable of his rights did not
celebrate that day, neither did the Rightly-Guided Caliphs or any others. Then
those who followed them in truth of the best three generations did not
celebrate this day either.
Do you think
that all these people were ignorant of his rights or fell short with regard to
them, until the later generations came and made up for this shortfall and made
the truth complete? No, by Allaah. No wise man who understands the nature of
the Sahaabah and how they followed the truth would say this. If you understand
that the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday was unknown at the time of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the time of his
companions and the time of their earliest followers, you will realize that it
is an innovation that has been introduced into the faith, and it is not
permissible to do it, approve of it or advocate it, rather we must denounce it
and warn people against it.
Majmoo’
Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 6/318, 319
Fifthly:
It is not
permissible for anyone to make up a du’aa’ or dhikhr and promulgate it among
the people. The du’aa’ that is called du’aa’ al-raabitah is an innovated
du’aa’, and thinking of those who are being prayed for and believing that they
will recognize the one who is praying for them and will call out to him in
Paradise – all of that is Sufi myths and fables that have no basis in the
religion of Allaah. The Islamic guidelines by means of which a person can
distinguish between Sunnah and bid’ah, right and wrong, are clear. The basic
principle with regard to acts of worship is that nothing is permitted unless
there is evidence. We cannot seek to draw closer to Allaah by doing an act of
worship unless there is evidence from the Qur’aan or saheeh Sunnah that it is
prescribed. The basic principle for the Muslim is to follow and not to
innovate, and innovations will be rejected. Allaah has completed this sharee’ah
for us and has completed His blessing upon us, so what need do we have for such
innovations to be part of our lives at the time when we are falling so far
short with regard to that which is proven in sharee’ah?
We hope that
what we have mentioned is sufficient to make these sister refrain from their
innovation. We advise them to fear Allaah and follow the Sunnah. They should
remember that Allaah does not accept any innovated act of worship, no matter
what efforts and wealth are expended on it. Being moderate in following the
Sunnah is better than striving hard in following innovation, as the great
Sahaabi ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said.
We ask
Allaah to guide those sisters to that which pleases Him, and we advise you to
convey this message well and not take part in that with them, and to be patient
in bearing any problems that may result from that.
And Allaah
knows best.
تعليقات
إرسال تعليق
تعليقكم يعكس شخصيتكم ، دعونا نتمتع باللباقة في الكلام.