Giving the reward for acts of worship to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

What is the ruling on one who reads Qur'aan, for example, then says: I
give the reward for this reading to the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him)?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The correct view is that giving the reward for acts of worship to the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is an innovation
(bid'ah). The evidence for that is as follows:
1 – There is no need for this giving, because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) will have the equivalent of the
rewardof his ummah, without that detracting from their reward in the
slightest. It is proven in al-Saheeh that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever calls to guidance will
have a reward like that of thosewho follow him, withoutthat detracting
from their reward in the slightest." Narrated by Muslim, 2674). And he
said: "Whoever sets a good precedent in Islam which is followed after
he is gone, will have a reward like those who acted upon it, without
it detracting from their reward in the slightest." Narrated by Muslim,
1017.
He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) showed all the ways of
guidance to his ummah, so for a person to give the reward for his deed
to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is
redundant, in fact the one who does this is losing out on the
rewardfor himself without it benefiting anyone else. He loses the
reward for his deed, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) has an equivalent reward without him having to give it.
2 – The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not
prescribe this for his ummah. Rather he said: "Whoever does an action
that is not in accordance with this matter of ours will have it
rejected." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2697; Muslim, 1718 – this version
narrated by Muslim.
3 – The salaf – including the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and the rest of
the Sahaabah and Taabi'een – did not do that, and they knew bestwhat
is good and were more keen to follow it. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "I urge you to adhere to my
Sunnah and the way of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs. Adhere to it and
cling firmly to it. And beware of newly invented matters, for every
newly invented matter is an innovation (bid'ah) and every innovation
is a going astray." Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4607; classed assaheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
See the essay, Ihda' al-Thawaab li'l-Nabi (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have
mercy on him).
Ibn al-'Ata', the student of al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on them
both) was asked: Isit permissible to read Qur'aan and give the reward
to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and is
there any report concerning that?
He replied:
Reading the Holy Qur'aan is one of the best acts of worship, but with
regard to giving it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), no reliable report has been narrated concerning that.
Rather that should not be done, because it is an action that is not
prescribed. Moreover the reward for reading will reach him anyway, and
all the good deeds of his ummah will be weighed in his balance. End
quote.
Al-Sakhaawi narrated from his Shaykh, al-Haafiz ibn Hajar (may Allaah
have mercy on him), that he was asked about one who read some Qur'aan
and said in his du'aa': O Allaah, add the reward for whatI have read
to the honour of the Messengerof Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him).
He replied:
This is something that has been invented by later generations. I do
not know of any precedent for that. End quote from Mawaahib al-Jaleel,
2/544, 454.
Moreover there is a difference of scholarly opinion with regard to
reading Qur'aan and giving the reward to thedead. See questions no.
70317 and 46698 . But even if it is said that thatis permissible, it
is not permissible to give it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), because all that is achieved by that is depriving
the one who did it of the reward, without it benefiting anyone else.
And Allaah knows best.