Works of Abul Baraa Muhamad Amreeki

All prase to Allah, peace and blessings be upon he who there no prophet after Muhammad and peace and blessing be upon his family and campaions and those who follow them after. That which follows.

Q & A from Student of knowledge Shaykh Abdurrahmann Murad.

Question:

People do a Quran Khatum and after give food for this ceremony. Is this permissible? 

Answer:

Talking from experience here…if no food was offered a Quran Khatum…what would happen? I’m sure you would all share with me that this would be considered a disaster of the ages! People would talk about this incessantly, and it would go down as a historic event of epic disaster! 
I was invited for one of these ceremonies and attended to see what was happening…as giving a ruling to something from third/fourth hand stories is unlike seeing it for yourself. 

When I attended, I was first off shocked at the general mood of the people…I mean, you know what these are set up for…don’t you? Someone just died and the family of the deceased wants to maximize the reward of the deceased, therefore they invite the community to come and read Quran and then intend the reward for the deceased. You would think…in this situation, the mood would be somber, silent, a little sad…but instead, it was more like an Islamic ‘wake’…people were chit-chatting, laughing, telling each other the latest jokes, catching up on episodes of their favorite shows…I mean….REALLY! 

I then began looking at those who had taken the chapters of the Qur’an to recite…some were just skimming through it by flipping pages as quickly as they could. Some were even flipping the pages the wrong way! Again…SUBHANALLAH! 

Now, I didn’t realize this, but there was a ‘cut-off’ time, at which everyone would have to finish by…if you were THAT guy who held everyone else up…YA RABBI, the nasty looks you would get…

As the night wore on and the chapters were finding their way back to the ‘finished’ pile…I then realized that the vast majority were there for the amazing meal…literally amazing…forget restaurant food, this was on a whole other level! 

To sum up…there are a few points I have to point out: 

a. Will the reward of reciting the Qur’an that is then gifted to a deceased, reach that deceased? This is an area of Khilaaf (difference of opinion) there are scholars (of them the Hanafi and Hanbali Schools of Thought in general) who indicate it will, and Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, took by this view. 

But how is it to be done? No one has condoned such a ‘party’ (as I have described above)…in simple words, its to be done in a most simplistic manner. You recite with the intention that the reward is for a deceased person. Even with this there is a Khilaaf as I mentioned above.

b. People who attend have no idea (in general) how to do the Khatum properly…and I’ve given examples above of this. 

c. Most people come for the food (in general). Don’t believe me…try to find out if there are any done without food! 

d. It has become more of an occasion, a gathering, a place where people compete and show off their latest fashion and styles to each other. 

May Allah grant us all success in this life and in the next. Ameen!