Q219 :On third, seventh, [tenth] fifteenth or
fortieth days of the death of a person, some sort of gathering is held
and passages of the Qur’an are recited and meals served. When you
explain to the people that such gatherings are not part of the
teachings of Islam, they ask why should it be against Islam when only
the Qur’an is being recited there.
A219 : There is nothing special that happens to the
deceased or his relatives on these days. If you examine the origins of
such practices, you will find that they date to pre-Islamic days,
especially that of the fortieth day. Moreover, they have been borrowed
from the traditions of people whose view of death is totally different
from that of Islam. While most philosophies consider death to be the
end of human life, Islam considers death a prelude to a different type
of life. Hence, if the deceased was a good believer, his death is not
something that we should be sorry for. In Islam, the proper practice is
to offer condolences to the relatives of the deceased and to pray for
the deceased’s forgiveness. Why a practice which relies on the reading
of the Qur’an be against Islam is very simple. Islam is a religion that
has been revealed by Allah. The Prophet conveyed it to us netplete.
Nothing can be added to what the Prophet has taught us, especially in
matters of worship. Therefore, when we introduce something into Islamic
practices, especially one that relates to worship, we are putting
ourselves in a position to netplement what the Prophet has done. This
is totally unacceptable.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )