Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
- You may read any part of the Quran and pray to Allah to send rewards for any of your dead parents, relatives, or friends you may wish.
- Since Surat Yaseen is an important surah of the Quran and is often referred to as the heart of the Quran, there is no reason to exempt it.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Reading Quran for the dead
It is the view of the majority of Muslims, including the scholars of jurisprudence and Hadith, that we can read the Quran on our own volition and donate the rewards for the dead parents or relatives or friends.
If we do so, Allah being generous, we believe He will not refuse to send such rewards to them.
Therefore, you may read any part of the Quran and pray to Allah to send rewards for any of your dead parents, relatives, or friends you may wish.
Reading Surat Yasin for the dead
Since Surat Yaseen is an important surah of the Quran and is often referred to as the heart of the Quran, there is no reason to exempt it.
There is also a report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) which states, “Read Yaseen on your dead ones!” (Ahmad)
Although some scholars take this hadith to mean that it refers to the time of dying as opposed to the time after death, there is no need to stop anyone from reading it even if we were to accept the above interpretation.
Having said this, however, I must hasten to add the following:
Reading Quran in return for payment for this purpose is an act of bid`ah (innovation). Likewise, it is also wrong to consider this as part of prescribed Islamic funerals.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.