✍ By: Hafiz Zubair Ali Zai (رحمه الله)
Is such a practice permissible according to Islamic law?
A Hadith from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (Ṣalāt al-Musāfirīn, Chapter: Recommendation of Offering Nafl at Home, Ḥadīth 780) has been interpreted by numerous scholars to indicate that reciting Qur’an in graveyards is disliked (makrūh).
The imams of the four major schools — Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfi‘ī, Imām Aḥmad, and Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, along with others — have been reported to hold this dislike for such practices.
Refer to: Iqtidhā’ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm (p. 182), Masā’il Abī Dāwūd (p. 158)
A narration from ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn al-‘Alā’ ibn al-Lajlāj, in which Ibn ‘Umar (رضي الله عنهما) is said to have instructed for the beginning and end of Surah al-Baqarah to be recited after his burial, is weak in authenticity.
The narrator ‘Abd al-Raḥmān is unknown in reliability, and except for Ibn Ḥibbān, no scholar has considered him trustworthy. The other narrators, Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad al-Warrāq and ‘Alī ibn Mūsā al-Ḥaddād, are also unknown and obscure.
However, raising hands and supplicating at the graveyard is authentically proven.
Refer to: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Jinā’iz, Chapter: What is to be said upon entering graveyards and supplicating for its dwellers, Ḥadīth 974.
❖ Question
After burying the deceased, people commonly recite Surah al-Ikhlās, Surah al-Falaq, Surah al-Nās (three times), Surah al-Fātiḥah, and the first and last Rukū‘ of Surah al-Baqarah at the head of the grave. Following this, attendees raise their hands to supplicate.Is such a practice permissible according to Islamic law?
❖ Answer
There is no authentic narration that establishes the recitation of these Surahs or any part of the Qur’an at the grave after burial.A Hadith from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (Ṣalāt al-Musāfirīn, Chapter: Recommendation of Offering Nafl at Home, Ḥadīth 780) has been interpreted by numerous scholars to indicate that reciting Qur’an in graveyards is disliked (makrūh).
The imams of the four major schools — Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfi‘ī, Imām Aḥmad, and Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, along with others — have been reported to hold this dislike for such practices.
Refer to: Iqtidhā’ al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm (p. 182), Masā’il Abī Dāwūd (p. 158)
A narration from ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn al-‘Alā’ ibn al-Lajlāj, in which Ibn ‘Umar (رضي الله عنهما) is said to have instructed for the beginning and end of Surah al-Baqarah to be recited after his burial, is weak in authenticity.
The narrator ‘Abd al-Raḥmān is unknown in reliability, and except for Ibn Ḥibbān, no scholar has considered him trustworthy. The other narrators, Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad al-Warrāq and ‘Alī ibn Mūsā al-Ḥaddād, are also unknown and obscure.
However, raising hands and supplicating at the graveyard is authentically proven.
Refer to: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Jinā’iz, Chapter: What is to be said upon entering graveyards and supplicating for its dwellers, Ḥadīth 974.
