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If there are issues concluded to disagreement (khilafiyah), one should be providing both perspective and arguments. This time we see an issue which actually took many opinions that are conflicting to the practice of Muslim people, which is regarding reciting surah al-Fatihah for the dead.
Is it really forbidden under Sharia to recite, or to send al-Fatihah for people who have passed away? Following is the explanation of the Shafii scholar:
قَالَ السُّبْكِيُّ تَبَعًا لِابْنِ الرِّفْعَةِ … الَّذِي دَلَّ عَلَيْهِ الْخَبَرُ بِالِاسْتِنْبَاطِ أَنَّ بَعْضَ الْقُرْآنِ إذَا قَصَدَ بِهِ نَفْعَ الْمَيِّتِ نَفَعَهُ إذْ قَدْ ثَبَتَ أَنَّ الْقَارِئَ لَمَّا قَصَدَ بِقِرَاءَتِهِ نَفْعَ الْمَلْدُوغِ نَفَعَتْهُ وَأَقَرَّ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ذَلِكَ بِقَوْلِهِ { وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ أَنَّهَا رُقْيَةٌ } وَإِذَا نَفَعَتْ الْحَيَّ بِالْقَصْدِ كَانَ نَفْعُ الْمَيِّتِ بِهَا أَوْلَى لِأَنَّهُ يَقَعُ عَنْهُ مِنْ الْعِبَادَاتِ بِغَيْرِ إذْنِهِ مَا لَا يَقَعُ عَنْ الْحَيِّ
“Al-Subki said,” Based on the hadith, if part of the Qur’an is intended for a human corpse, it will be beneficial. Like the hadith describing that there was a companion who read al-Fatihah for a person who was stung, then the Prophet said, “How do you know that al-Fatihah is ruqyah?”. If al-Fatihah is addressed to the living people it can be useful, then to the dead it will be even more useful.” (Syaikh Zakariya, Asna 12/139).
How do Salafi scholars see this issue?
سئل فضيلة الشيخ: عن حكم التلاوة لروح الميت؟فأجاب قائلًا: هذه المسألة محل خلاف بين أهل العلم على قولين:القول الأول: أن ذلك غير مشروع وأن الميت لا ينتفع به أي لا ينتفع بالقرآن في هذه الحال.القول الثاني: أنه ينتفع بوالراجح: القول الثاني لأنه ورد في جنس العبادات جواز صرفها للميت
“Sheikh Utsaimin answered, scholars have different opinios. First group says that reading the Qur’an for the dead is not prescribed under Sharia, but second group argues that it is useful. The second idea is the strongest since there are prophetic traditions legitimating the practice of sending worship for human corpses. “(Majmu ‘Fatawa wa Rasail 2/306).
The perspective adopted is that the al-Fatihah is part of the Qur’an, and according to Shaykh Utsaimin reciting the Qur’an for a person who has passed away is beneficial to the corpse. Thus we may conclude that the recitation of al-Fatihah or some parts of the Qur’an intended for the dead is beneficial.
Translated from the article in Indonesian version: https://islami.co/catatan-untuk-pendakwah-salafi-apa-betul-kirim-al-fatihah-untuk-orang-wafat-dilarang/ by KH. Ma’ruf Khozin on Islami.co, published 1 January 2020
