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Fatwa CenterTaking a fee for reciting Quran at the grave
Question
al-Salamun `alaykum, How do the Shafi`ites and Malikis deem the performing of good deeds over/for a dead person forbidden, and yet permit (and thus encourage) reciting Qur'an at the graveside of the deceased. Also if it is permissible to accept payment for teaching Qur'an, why is this forbidden in the case of doing a deed for a deceased. Would accepting payment for teaching the Qur'an not diminish the reward (from Allah) of performing this deed ? ["Imam Ibn Taymiyah said that 'those who hold the opinion that the reward of good deeds reach the dead person mean specifically those deeds which are performed only for the Sake of Allah'." Fatwa #83484] Would the reward of the good deed not be hindered as there was a second intention, thus the deed was performed for more than "the Sake of Allah" ? wassalaam
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The Maaliki and Shaafi’i Schools of jurisprudence did not absolutely forbid performing deeds on behalf of the dead; rather they permitted some deeds like charity, supplication and Hajj.
However, other scholars 
differed in opinion with them with regard to other deeds than the above. Their view is that reciting the Quran on behalf of the dead reaches them only if this act is accompanied with supplicating to Allaah to make the reward for them, like saying “O Allaah give the reward of my recitation of the Quran to so and so.”
The scholars who prohibited this gave evidence of the saying of Allaah (which means): {And that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives.}[Quran 53:39], and the saying of the Prophet 
: “When a person dies, all his good deeds cease except for three: a continuous charity, beneficial knowledge, and a righteous son who supplicates for him." [Muslim] For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 82681 and 86300.
To reconcile between the two opinions, meaning between those who are of the view that it is prohibited to recite the Quran at the grave and those who allowed it, we say that when the Quran is being recited at the grave of the dead, the dead benefits from the mercy and tranquility that descends as a result of the Quran being recited exactly as it happens to the live person when he attends a circle of the recitation of the Quran. However, the dead does not get the reward of the recitation just because of reciting at his grave.
As regards the difference between taking a fee for teaching the Quran and not taking a fee when reciting it on the dead, the reason is that reciting Quran for the dead is not permitted in principle.
However, many scholars of the Shaafi’i School of jurisprudence are of the view that it is permissible to recite the Quran at the grave of the dead as he benefits from the mercy that descends, with inference to teaching the Quran.
A person will be rewarded for reciting the Quran if he does so sincerely for the sake of Allaah. Taking a fee for the recitation of the Quran does not negate performing the action sincerely for the sake of Allaah. Moreover, taking a fee does not invalidate the reward of good deeds.
Allaah Knows best.
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