Reciting Quran at the Grave

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا سيدي يا نور الله

فداك ابي وامي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Modern-day Salafis often claim that it is a reprehensible innovation to recite the Quran for the deceased at a grave. Yet it is narrated that the great Sunni Imam, Ahmad bin Hanbal رحمة الله عليه, whom Salafis and Wahhabis have a special regard for, permitted recitation of Quran at the grave:

‌‌ قال ولا بَأْسَ بالقِراءةِ عندَ القبرِ وقد رُوِيَ عن أحمدَ أنَّه قال إذا دَخَلْتُم المَقَابِرَ اقْرأُوا آيَةَ الكُرْسِيِّ وثلاثَ مَرَّاتٍ {قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ} ثم قُلْ اللَّهُمَّ إنَّ فَضْلَه لأهْلِ المَقَابِرِ وَرُوِيَ عنه أنَّه قال القِرَاءَةُ عندَ القبرِ بِدْعَةٌ ورُوِيَ ذلك عن هُشَيْمٍ قال أبو بكرٍ نَقَلَ ذلك عن أحمدَ جَمَاعَةٌ ثم رَجَعَ رُجُوعًا أبانَ به عن نَفْسِه فرَوَى جماعةٌ أنَّ أحمدَ نَهَى ضَرِيرًا أنْ يَقْرأَ عندَ القبرِ وقال له إنَّ القِرَاءَةَ عندَ القبرِ بِدْعَةٌ فقال له محمدُ بن قُدامةَ الجَوْهَرِيُّ يا أبا عبدِ اللَّه ما تقولُ في مُبَشِّرٍ الحَلبِيّ قال ثِقَةٌ قال فأخْبَرَنِي مُبَشِّرٌ عن أبِيهِ أنَّه أوْصَى إذا دُفِنَ يُقْرَأُ عندَه بِفَاتِحَةِ البَقَرَةِ وخَاتِمَتِها وقال سمعتُ ابنَ عمرَ يُوصِي بذلك قال أحمدُ بنُ حَنْبَلٍ فارْجِعْ فقُلْ لِلرَّجُلِ يَقْرأُ

He said: There is nothing wrong with reciting Quran at the grave. It was narrated on the authority of Ahmad that he said: If you enter the cemetery, read Ayat al-Kursi and three times {Say, He is Allah, the One}, then say: Allahumma, its bounty is for the people of the cemetery. It was narrated from him that he said: Reciting at the grave is an innovation. This was narrated from Hushaim. Abu Bakr said: A group transmitted this from Ahmad, then he went back and returned it to himself. A group narrated that Ahmad forbade a blind man from reciting at the grave, and said to him: Reciting at the grave is an innovation. Muhammad ibn Qudamah al-Jawhari said to him: O Abu Abdullah, what do you say about Mubashshir al-Halabi? He said: He is trustworthy. He said: Mubashshir informed me, on the authority of his father, that he recommended that when he was buried, the opening and closing verses of Surat Al-Baqarah be recited near him, and he said: I heard Ibn Umar bequeathing that. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: Then go back and tell the man to recite (al-Mughni, v.3, p.518)

And this practice of reciting the opening verses of Surat al-Baqarah at the head of the deceased after placing him in the grave, and the end of Surat al-Baqarah at his feet is based on a Hadith:

إِذَا مَاتَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلَا تَحْبِسُوهُ وَأَسْرِعُوا بِهِ إِلَى قَبْرِهِ وَلْيُقْرَأْ عِنْدَ رَأْسِهِ فَاتِحَةُ الْكِتَابِ وَعِنْدَ ‌رِجْلَيْهِ بِخَاتِمَةِ الْبَقَرَةِ فِي قَبْرِهِ

(Shu’b al-Iman, v.11, p.471, #8854)