format_quote Originally Posted by
Scents of Jannah
There's no need to apologize bro. Your post was enlightening and I'm sure those who read it learnt something new, as I did. So, jzkAllahu khayr for sharing with us.
May I ask where you're from as you've not heard of 'khatams' of this kind before? I'm inclined to think they only happen in parts of the indian subcontinent, i.e. India, pakistan, bangladesh?
I am from Egypt. I did not run into those khatams there no. We have a social gathering with big tents held outside sometimes or at occaision halls where they just have people sitting drinking coffee and listening to a reciter reading Quran. It is not worship and very much social condolences. What bidaa I have seen though is in also remembering the person on the 40th day he passed away with another sitting of playing Quran tapes and inviting close family to listen and just messages of memorials (or even small newspaper clips in a special page for the rich people) every year afterwards. But again it's not exactly worship and they really intend this as social thing. However what Egyptians do is read quran on their own (not in groups or at certain times) and "offer its reward" to the dead person and making duaa separately.
They have different misguidances though, like burying their dead still in pharoanic style tombs where every family has concrete chambers below the ground and bodies of couples and their children will be just laid on cement slabs beside each other based on relations and the trapdoor to the tomb is resealed, to be reopened when a new family member dies!
yes that's what I was on about the pakistani/indian khatams were they all get together and try and read as much qur'an as possible for the dead person because they believe it benefits the dead person or something. then at the end everyone says how many qurans they read for the dead person and a meal is dished up.
Regarding reading for the dead person voluntarily and offering the reward and making duaa there are two opinions, the first and that is the majority is it is acceptable, namely with the Shafei and Maliki and Hanafi math-hab along with a majority of scholars, and they use the hadith "whomever reads Yasin on a dead person, his punishment is reduced" narrated by Abu Huraira through Al-Thaalabi as base in addition to the general acceptability of reading Quran at the graves. Hanbalis and a few scholars say there isn't a dictated sunnah for that so it shouldn't be done, while duaa and fasting and haj as well as monetary charity is part of sunnah, and that reading Quran is only at the grave. So there isn't consensus at that point, and the majority is that it is permissible and good, the same way that reading at the grave is good.
However (I did a bit of research on this Khatam to know more.)
there is consensus that getting together at a certain date in terms of a day arrangement, or repeating on a numerically set night, and make a congregational reading and close it with a congregational duaa is a Bidaa to be left alone, as per Brother Abd-Al-Latif said already.
Aside from that, you need to tell them that serving food at funerals is haraam and specifically forbidden, and thinking that a spirit will come on a certain day and gets served food and enjoys it is beyond Bidaa! This touches on superstition and disbelief in dictated hadith that spirits stay in the grave, which is a grave sin.
And God knows best.