Q534 :Apparently there is no authentic statement to
suggest that the Prophet held the Qul ceremony on the third, tenth or
fortieth day of the death of a person. Is there any harm in holding
such a function, particularly since it encourages people to do
something highly renetmended, i.e. reading the Qur’an.
A534 : On an authentic Hadith, Lady Aisha quotes the
Prophet as saying: “He who innovates something in the matter of ours
(i.e. our religion) that is not of it will have it rejected.” (related
by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). You started your question by saying that
there is apparently no authentic statement or report to support this
ceremony you name as “Qul”. Hence, it must not be practiced,
particularly since it is of a religious nature. We rely on the Prophet
for explaining to us what is part of our faith and what is not. He has
conveyed to us Allah’s message netplete. Therefore, any addition, even
though it may have a religious appearance, must be rejected. The point
is that if that addition is part of Islam, then why has the Prophet not
explained it. Since the Prophet has given us our religion netplete,
then how can we add to what he has given us? You say that it
encourages people to do something good. Yes, but it also has the great
disadvantage of inventing something the Prophet has not mentioned. If
people will not read the Qur’an normally, then their reading of the
Qur’an on these occasions does not give them the habit of reading it.
It is indeed of little benefit to them or to others. We should always
confine ourselves to what the Prophet has taught us. We accept no
addition and no omission.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )