Dought & clear - , Reading Qur’aan together, giving good deeds to the dead, and al-Mawlid al-Nabawi (celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)).

the month, we get together with a group of30 or more sisters and each
of us reads two or three hizb (portions of Qur'aan) until we complete
the Holy Qur'aan in one and a half or two hours. We have been told
that this will count – in sha Allaah– as a completion of the Qur'aan
for each one of us. Is that correct? After that we make du'aa' andask
Allaah to give the reward for our reading to the rest of the
believers, living and dead. Will the reward reach the dead? They quote
as evidence for that the words of our master Muhammad (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him): "When a man dies, all hisgood deeds
come to an end except three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge or
a righteous son who willpray for him."
On the festival of the Prophet's birthday (al-mawlid al-nabawi), they
hold a ribaat (vigil) which starts at 10 a.m. and lasts until 3 p.m.
They start with prayers for forgiveness, praise ofAllaah, tasbeeh and
takbeer, and sending blessings upon our master Muhammad (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) silently, then they read the Qur'aan,
and some sisters fast on that day. Issingling out this day for all
these acts of worship regarded as an innovation (bid'ah)? We also have
a lengthy du'aa' seeking blessing that we say at the time of suhoor,
for those whoare able to say it. It is called du'aa' al-raabitah.It
starts by sending blessings and salaams upon our master Muhammad and
his party and the other Prophets, and the Mothers of the Believers,and
the female companions of the Prophet, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the
Taabi'een, and the righteous close friends (awliya') of Allaah,
mentioning each of them by name. Is it correct that mentioning all
these names will make their owners recognize us and call outto us in
Paradise? Is this du'aa' an innovation? I feel that it is, but most
ofthe sisters disagree with me. Will I be punished byAllaah if I am
wrong? How can I convince themif I am correct? This matter is making
me losesleep and every time I remember the hadeeth of the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which says that
every newly-invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is a
going-astray, and every going-astray will be in the Fire, my worry and
grief get even worse.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
In the saheeh Sunnah there are many reports which speak of the virtues
of gathering to read the Book of Allaah, but in order for the Muslim
to attain those rewards, he should ensure that the gathering is in
accordance with sharee'ah. One of the prescribed ways in which people
may gather to read Qur'aan isfor the people gathered to read together
for the purpose of study, learning the meanings and how to recite
properly. Another kind of gathering that is prescribed is for each of
them to read and the others to listen, so that they may ponder the
meanings of the verses. Both are mentioned in the Sunnah of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
For more information please see question no. 22722 , which explains
the ruling on gathering to read the Qur'aan.
With regard to what each person reads beingcounted as a khatmah
(complete reading of theQur'aan) for each of them, this is not
correct, because none of them has read the entire Qur'aan, or even
listenedto it, rather each of themhas read a part of it, so they will
only be rewarded for whatever they have read of the Qur'aan.
The scholars of the Standing Committee said:
Distributing ajza' or parts of the Qur'aan to those who are present so
that each one of themmay read a hizb of the Qur'aan is not necessarily
regarded as a khatmah or complete reading of the Qur'aan on the part
of each one of them. End quote.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah, 2/480
Secondly:
It is not prescribed to saydu'aa' together after reading Qur'aan, and
it is not permissible to pray that the reward for the reading go to
any of the dead or the living. Our Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) did not do that, and neither did anyof his
companions (may Allaah be pleased with them).
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:
Is it permissible for me to read the entire Qur'aan for my parents,
knowing that they are illiterate and cannot read or write? Is it
permissible for me to read the entire Qur'aan for a person who knows
how to read and write, but I want to give this khatmah to him? Is it
permissible for me to read the entire Qur'aan for more than one
person?
He replied:
There is no report in the Holy Qur'aan or in the Sunnah of the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or
from his companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) to indicate that
it is prescribed to give one's reading of Qur'aan (or the reward
thereof) to one's parentsor to anyone else. RatherAllaah has enjoined
reading Qur'aan so that one may benefit from it, learn from it, ponder
its meanings and act upon it. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"(This is) a Book (the Qur'aan) which We have sent down to you, full
of blessings, that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of
understanding may remember"
[Saad 38:29]
"Verily, this Qur'aan guides to that which is most just and right"
[al-Isra' 17:90]
"Say: It is for those who believe, a guide and a healing"
[Fussilat 41:44]
And our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"Read the Qur'aan, for it will come as an intercessor for its
companions." And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"The Qur'aan will be brought on the Day of Resurrection along with its
people who used to act upon it, preceded by Soorat al-Baqarah and Aal
'Imraan, like two clouds or two flocks of birds, spreading their
wings, pleading on behalf of their companions (i.e., those who used to
read them)."
The point is that it was revealed to be acted upon and pondered, to be
read as an act of worship and read a great deal, not to be given to
the dead or to anyone else. I do not know of any reliable basis for
giving it to one's parents or anyone else. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever does any action that
is not in accordance with this matter of ours will have it rejected."
Some of the scholars are of the view that that is permissible, and
they said: There is no reason why the reward for reading Qur'aan and
other righteous actions cannotbe given to others, and they liken that
to the case of charity and du'aa' for the deceased and others. But the
correct view is the first view, because of the hadeeth quoted above,
and other similar reports. If giving the reward for reading to another
was permissible or prescribed, the righteous salaf would have done it.
It is not permissible to make analogies with regard toacts of worship,
because they can only be proven by a text from the Book of Allaah, may
He be blessed and exalted, or the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), because of the hadeeth quoted above
and other similar reports.
Majmoo' Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 8/360, 361
With regard to their quoting the hadeeth, "When the son of Adam dies,
all his good deeds come to an end…" this is not correct, rather if
youthink about it, you will see that the hadeeth indicates that it is
not prescribed to give the reward for reading Qur'aan to the dead,
because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"A son who will pray for him," not "who will read Qur'aan for him."
Thirdly:
We should not write the letter (S) or abbreviations for the blessing
upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). If a
person can write such a lengthy question, he is not incapable of
writing the blessing upon the Prophet in full. We have already
discussed the ruling on writing such abbreviations in the answer to
question no. 47976 .
Fourthly:
Celebrating the Prophet's birthday (al-mawlid) is an innovation, and
doing special acts of worship on this day such as saying tasbeeh and
tahmeed, observing i'tikaaf, reading Qur'aan and fasting is an
innovation for which a person will not receive any reward, for these
are all rejected.
It was narrated from 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "Whoever introduces anything intothis matter of ours that is not
part of it will have it rejected." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2550;
Muslim, 1718.
According to a version narrated by Muslim (1718) he said: "Whoever
does an action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours will
have it rejected."
Al-Faakihaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
I do not know of any basis for this mawlid in the Qur'aan or Sunnah,
and there is no report that any of the scholars of this ummah, who are
examples in matters of religion and adhere to the path of those who
came before, did this. Rather it is an innovation (bid'ah) which was
introduced by those who have nothing better to do, and it is a means
for them to have fun and eat a lot.
Al-Mawrid fi 'Aml al-Mawlid, quoted in Rasaa'il fi Hukm al-Ihtifaal
bi'l-Mawlid al-Nabawi, 1/8, 9
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
If celebrating the Prophet's birthday was prescribed, then the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would have told his ummah
of that, because he is the most sincere of people and there is no
Prophet afterhim who could explain anything he did not speak about. He
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the Seal of the
Prophets and he explained to the people what he had to explain of the
truth, such as loving him and following his sharee'ah, sending
blessings and salaams upon him and other rights of his that are
explained in the Qur'aan and Sunnah. He did not tell his ummah that
celebrating the day of his birth was something prescribed sothat they
would do that. He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not
do that during his lifetime and his companions (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) who were thedearest of people to himand the most
knowledgeable of his rights did not celebrate that day, neither did
the Rightly-Guided Caliphs orany others. Then those who followed them
in truth of the best three generations did not celebrate this day
either.
Do you think that all these people were ignorant of his rights or fell
short with regard to them, until the later generations came and made
up for this shortfall and made the truth complete? No, by Allaah. No
wise man whounderstands the nature of the Sahaabah and how they
followed the truth would say this. If you understand that the
celebration of the Prophet's birthday was unknown at the time of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the time of
his companions and the time of their earliest followers, you will
realize that it is an innovation that has been introduced into the
faith, and it is not permissible to do it, approve of it or advocate
it, rather we must denounce it and warn people against it.
Majmoo' Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 6/318, 319
Fifthly:
It is not permissible for anyone to make up a du'aa' or dhikhr and
promulgate it among the people. The du'aa' that is called du'aa'
al-raabitah is an innovated du'aa', and thinking of those who are
being prayed for and believing that they will recognize the one who is
praying for them and will call out to him in Paradise – all of that
isSufi myths and fables that have no basis in the religion of Allaah.
The Islamic guidelines by means of which a personcan distinguish
betweenSunnah and bid'ah, rightand wrong, are clear. The basic
principle with regard to acts of worship is that nothing is permitted
unless thereis evidence. We cannot seek to draw closer to Allaah by
doing an act ofworship unless there is evidence from the Qur'aan or
saheeh Sunnah that it is prescribed. The basic principle for the
Muslim is to follow and not to innovate, and innovations will be
rejected. Allaah has completed this sharee'ahfor us and has completed
His blessing upon us, so what need do we have for such innovations to
be part ofour lives at the time when we are falling so far short with
regard to that which is proven in sharee'ah?
For more information see the answer to questions no. 27237 and 6745
We hope that what we have mentioned is sufficient to make these sister
refrain from their innovation. We advise them to fear Allaah and
follow the Sunnah. They should remember that Allaah does not accept
any innovated act of worship, no matter whatefforts and wealth are
expended on it. Being moderate in following the Sunnah is better than
striving hard in following innovation, as the great Sahaabi
'Abd-Allaah ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said.
We ask Allaah to guide those sisters to that which pleases Him, and we
advise you to convey this message well and not take part in that with
them, and to be patient in bearing any problems that may resultfrom
that.