❖ Review of 12 Unauthenticated Arguments Regarding Qur'an Recitation
Originally authored by Abu Yahya Ameenpuri (ḥafiẓahullāh), the content has been organized and enhanced for readability with structured headings.✿ No Basis for Qur'an Recitation Near the Dying, Deceased, or Graves
There is no evidence in the Qur'an or authentic Hadith that supports the practice of reciting the Qur'an for a dying person, over the deceased, or at their graves. The lives of the noble Companions (رضي الله عنهم) also show no indication of this practice. Acts such as Teja, Qul, Thursday Khatam, and Chehlum are classified as innovations and cultural rituals.While acts proven from Qur'an, Hadith, and scholarly consensus for conveying reward—such as duʿāʾ and ṣadaqah—are accepted and practiced, Qur'an recitation lacks any authentic legal proof and is therefore considered an innovation. Followers of innovation have turned it into a source of income by integrating it into religious rituals.
◈ Brief Analysis of Arguments by Innovators
✔ Argument 1: The Prophet ﷺ Passed by Two Graves
Narration where the Prophet ﷺ passed by two graves where the buried were being punished. He planted fresh palm branches on each.Hadith Reference:
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1/182, Ḥadīth 1361
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1/141, Ḥadīth 292
Scholars’ View:
Imām Nawawī wrote:
“Scholars deemed it preferable to recite the Qur'an based on this narration, reasoning that if a palm branch can lessen the punishment, Qur'an recitation should be even more effective.”
(Sharḥ Muslim: 1/141)
Commentary:
This narration does not serve as proof for Qur'an recitation. It was never practiced by the best of generations. The cause of alleviation was not the branches themselves but the Prophet’s ﷺ intercession, as seen in another narration:
“I passed by two graves... I wished that through my intercession their punishment be lightened...”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2/418, Ḥadīth 3012)
Related Reports:
Narrations also exist from Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) and Buraydah al-Aslamī (رضي الله عنه). However, the intent was not to recite Qur'an, and even these actions were specific to the Prophet ﷺ.
✔ Argument 2: Recite Sūrah Yā-Sīn for the Dying
Narration from Maʿqil ibn Yasār (رضي الله عنه):“Recite Yā-Sīn for your dying ones.”
(Musnad Aḥmad: 5/26; Sunan Abū Dāwūd: 3121)
Authenticity:
Though Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Ḥākim graded it ṣaḥīḥ, their leniency is well-known. The chain contains an unknown narrator, rendering it weak.
Clarification by Ibn Ḥibbān:
The command is for those near death, not for reciting over a corpse.
Ibn al-Qayyim supported this view in al-Rūḥ: p. 11.
✔ Argument 3: 21 Times Sūrah Ikhlāṣ in Graveyard
Narration that reciting Sūrah Ikhlāṣ 21 times at a graveyard earns rewards equal to the number of the deceased.(Tārīkh Qazwīn: 2/297)
Commentary:
The chain contains a fabricator (kadhdhāb)—Dāwūd ibn Sulaymān al-Ghāzī.
Imām al-Dhahabī labeled him a liar.
(Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl: 2/8)
✔ Argument 4: Anas ibn Mālik’s (رضي الله عنه) Report
Claim: Reciting Sūrah Yā-Sīn at a graveyard lightens the punishment and earns multiple rewards.(Sharḥ al-Ṣudūr by al-Suyūṭī: p. 404)
Commentary:
Chain includes fabricators and weak narrators, such as Ayyūb ibn Mudrik. Declared kadhdhāb by Ibn Maʿīn and matrūk by al-Nasāʾī and al-Dāraqutnī.
✔ Argument 5: Reciting Specific Sūrahs in Graveyard
Claim: Reciting Sūrah al-Fātiḥah, Ikhlāṣ, and Takāthur, then gifting the reward to the deceased, causes them to intercede.(Sharḥ al-Ṣudūr by al-Suyūṭī)
Commentary:
No chain is provided, rendering the narration rejected and baseless.
✔ Argument 6: Dream of Ḥammād Makki
Dream narrative where deceased individuals say they were benefitted by Sūrah Ikhlāṣ.(Sharḥ al-Ṣudūr by al-Suyūṭī)
Commentary:
Unsupported dream, fabricated and baseless, with no scholarly authentication.
✔ Argument 7: al-Ḥasan ibn al-Haytham’s Report
Instruction to recite Sūrah Ikhlāṣ at graves.Commentary:
Narrator lacks authentication. The identity and reliability of "Khiṭāb" are unknown.
✔ Argument 8: View of Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī
Permissibility of reciting Qur’an in graveyards.(al-Amr bi al-Maʿrūf by al-Khallāl: 245)
Commentary:
Chain includes weak and unknown narrators, including a mudallis without clarification of hearing.
✔ Argument 9: Story of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Jurwī
A dream about his sister benefiting from Sūrah Tabārak.(al-Amr bi al-Maʿrūf by al-Khallāl: 246)
Commentary:
Narrator’s authenticity is unknown. Dreams are not legal proof in Islamic jurisprudence.
✔ Argument 10: Statement Attributed to Imām al-Shāfiʿī (raḥimahullāh)
Al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ asked about Qur'an recitation over graves, to which Imām al-Shāfiʿī reportedly said, "No harm."Commentary:
Even if authentic, no mention of conveying reward is made, and there is no supporting Sharʿī evidence.
✔ Argument 11: Khaytham’s Will
Requested Qur'an to be recited over his grave.(al-Zuhd by Imām Aḥmad: 2122)
Commentary:
Chain is weak due to unknown narrators and use of ʿanʿanah by a mudallis.
✔ Argument 12: Incident Involving Imām Aḥmad (raḥimahullāh)
He reportedly prayed behind a blind imam who recited Qur’an in a graveyard.(al-Amr bi al-Maʿrūf by al-Khallāl: 247)
Commentary:
Narrator’s credibility is unknown. The story is not authentically established.
