A suckling, or a child slightly bigger, can be carried by one person, on both hands. This person (carrying the child’s corpse) may as well be on an animal. Big children are carried in coffins.
The janâza must be carried with such speed as not to joggle the corpse.
It is makrûh to delay the janâza till after Friday prayer so that the jamâ’at will be large. If it is feared that Friday prayer may be missed because of the time spent for the burial, then the salât of janâza can be delayed till after Friday prayer. [It is not permissible to delay the janâza till the following day so that his relatives living in distant places will be present too].
The salât of ’Iyd is performed before the salât of janâza, and the salât of janâza is performed before the khutba of ’Iyd. People waiting for the salât of janâza in the musallâ do not stand up before the janâza is put on the ground. It is written in Surrat-ul-fatâwâ, “Those who sit in the musallâ should not stand up when the janâza is brought there.”
Those who attend a funeral should walk close behind the janâza. It is sunnat-i muakkada to attend a funeral. According to Shâfi’î Madhhab you walk ahead of the janâza. Women do not attend funerals. The janâza is carried silently. It is bid’at, sinful to say tekbîrs, tehlîls, ilâhîs loudly. You should not forsake a funeral that has such bid’ats, but you should prevent them if possible. However, it is necessary to give up a feast that has such bid’ats. Though it is permissible to walk in front of the janâza or beside it, it is better to walk behind it.
It is permissible to have one’s grave dug while one is alive. If the grave is on your property (land), it will belong to you. If it is not in your property or if you have not bought your grave in the cemetery, someone else may be buried there as well.
It is necessary and sunna and very useful to bury the corpse in a large cemetery. It must be buried near (the graves of) sâlihs (pious Muslims) and Awliyâ ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în.’ The grave must be far away from the graves of sinners and fâjirs and, especially, from the graves of disbelievers and renegades. It is not good to bury the corpse at a dank place. It must be buried at a dry place if possible. Burying it at a dank place causes it to rot fast. In Islam the corpse should rot late. If the earth is dank or loose it is good to bury the corpse in a coffin.
To carry flowers and garlands with the janâza, to put them on the grave, to wear badges, signs and pictures of mourning are disbelievers’ customs. It is harâm for Muslims to do such things, and they are harmful to the dead person, too. It is declared in a hadîth-i sherîf, which is transmitted by Ibn Mâja and written in Kunûz-ud deqâiq: “Do not take the janâza (to the cemetery) with noise, fire, lights or other things.” It is good to lay a piece of silk or other kind of cloth on a grave that is in a room-like tomb, or to sprinkle rose leaves on the cloth, and thus to give it an odorous scent. That this is permissible is written in the Persian book Tahqîq-ul haqq-il mubîn, by Ahmad Sâ’îd-i Serhendî ’rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh.’
It is fard-i kifâya to dig a grave and to bury the corpse in the grave. [If the number of Muslims required to bury the corpse is not sufficient, it will then become fard for anyone who has been informed of the death to be present at the burial ceremony. If nobody can be found to do the service free and paid grave-diggers are hired, then every Muslim who didn’t serve despite having information will be sinful. They will become fâsiqs. To bury the corpse, like performing the salât of janâza, is an ’ibâdat. It is fard to do such an ’ibâdat free of charge. Any payment received will become harâm. It is permissible for poor people to do such a fard in return for money if nobody can be found to do such a service free and in order to avoid the risk of not providing the service to Muslim corpses. Payment received by these people will become halâl, but those who shun from the service will not escape the fisq; they will become sinful. Since burying the deceased person’s body into soil is fard, anyone who shuns this responsibility by underestimating the fard and argues that it would be fundamentalism to bury a corpse or that it would be better to cremate it like the disbelievers called Buddhists, Hindus and Communists, or by scientific reasoning, will lose his îmân (belief) and become a murtad.]
It is not permissible to put it on the ground, in a building, or in marble without digging the earth. If it is not possible to take a person to land who has died on a ship, it is not fard to bury him. Two people cannot be buried in one grave unless it is inevitable. Before a corpse has rotted and its bones have become earth, someone else’s corpse cannot be buried in its grave. If it is impossible to dig another grave, the bones (of the former) are put together (on one side of the grave) and earthed up; then the latter can be buried in the other side of the grave. When the corpse rots and changes into earth, another corpse can be buried in the grave. If the plot of land does not belong to Waqf and if it is someone’s property, the owner can use this land as a field or build a house on it. The fatwâ states so, too. It is written in the section about manual afflictions in Hadîqa, “After the corpse has rotted and become earth, it is permissible to bury someone else in its grave or to cultivate the place of the grave or to build a house on it.” If graves remain under the waters of a flood or river, it is not permissible to unearth the corpses (or bones) to bury them somewhere else.” If an abandoned cemetery of disbelievers no longer bears any sign of disbelievers, Believers may be buried or a mosque may be built there. As a matter of fact, the building plot of Masjîd-i Nabî in Medina used to be the disbelievers’ cemetery. The graves were dug, the bones were taken out and buried somewhere else.
It is written in Jâmi’ul-fatâwâ, “The depth of the grave must be equal to the length between a man’s chest and feet. It is better if it is as deep as a man’s height.” The grave must be deep so that water will not leak into it, scent will not ooze out of it, and beasts will not be able to dig it up. It must be equal to the corpse’s stature in length, and its width must be half its length. The grave’s length must be perpendicular to the direction of qibla. It is sunna to make a lahd. A lahd is a niche dug on the qibla side of the grave and all along the grave. It must be large enough to receive the corpse in width and depth, after the grave has been dug. The corpse is put on its right side in the lahd. You do not make a shaq (furrow), that is, you do not dig a trench along the middle of the grave already dug and put the corpse in it. If the earth is weak and damp, you put the corpse with the coffin in the niche or directly in the grave. If the soil is dry and strong, it is makrûh to bury a man together with the coffin. It is makrûh to spread such things as felts or mats under the corpse. If you bury it with its coffin, you must put some soil in the coffin. It is always very good to bury women’s corpses in their coffins.
If a person dies on a ship and if his corpse may putrefy before the ship reaches land, he is washed and shrouded and his salât is performed; then, if disbelievers’ land is close by, the corpse is put into the sea with some heavy object tied to the shroud. If you are closer to the Muslims’ coast, you do not tie a heavy object to the shroud.
It is not permissible to bury the corpse of a person in the room where he died. It must not be buried near a school or tekke, either; it must be taken to a Muslim cemetery.
It is written in Shir’at-ul Islâm: “When the janâza is put on the ground near the grave, those who do not help with the work should sit or squat down. They should not stand like Jews and Christians. It is mustahab to recite seven sûras as the corpse is buried. These seven sûras are Innâ andhalnâ, Kâfirûn, Idhâ jâeh, Ikhlâs, the two sûras beginning with Qul a’ûdhu, and Fâtiha. Also, it is mustahab to give alms and present the thawâb to the dead person’s soul every day for one week after the burial.”
An odd or even number of people approach the grave, turn towards the qibla, take the corpse, which has been placed on the qibla side of the grave and lengthwise parallel to the grave, and put it in the grave or in the lahd with its face towards the qibla. When doing this they say the prayer, “Bismillah wa billah wa ’alâ millat-i Rasûlillah, sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam.” They do not say the adhân. The corpse’s face is turned towards the inside of the lahd, and earth and sun-dried bricks are put behind it. Then the grave is filled with earth. It is not permissible to reopen the grave to turn the corpse towards the qibla if it has been placed the other way round. For, it is harâm to reopen a grave. It can be reopened to take something left in the grave. The ends of the shroud are undone in the grave.
It is written in Mîzân-ul kubrâ, “It is unanimously stated by the four Madhhabs that the grave side of the lahd is covered with sun-dried bricks or a mat. It is makrûh to cover it with baked bricks or with wood. [Nails, baked things such as bricks are ornamental items. It is makrûh to use them for a corpse]. It is permissible to cover the outer part of the grave with bricks, wood, or marble stones. The blessed lahd of Rasûlullah (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) was covered with nine sundried bricks. If a woman’s corpse is interred without a coffin, a large piece of cloth must be used as a curtain.”
The grave is covered with earth. The top of the grave must not be more than a span above ground level. It is mustahab to cast three handfuls of earth on top of the grave from the head side.
After the burial, it is mustahab to sit around the grave for a few minutes, or to read (or recite) the beginning and final parts of the Sûrat-al Baqara, and to pray and do istighfâr for the dead person. [Christians stand by the grave and pronounce benedictions. Muslims should not say their prayers standing like priests. They should squat and then say their prayers. It will be of great use if some pious Muslims perform khatm and khatm-i tehlîl gratis by dividing the business among themselves and send the thawâb to the dead person’s soul; they may do this by coming together in the home of one of them as well as by every one doing it in his own home. [It is disbelievers’ custom to make speeches by the grave. It is not permissible to make speeches like disbelievers or to praise the dead person with such attributes as he did not actually possess. And it is useless and unecessary to praise him (or her) with attributes that he (or she) had. It is permissible to weep for the dying person. It is written in Sharh-us-sudûr and Berekât that “Heavens weep for the death of a Believer.” It is not permissible to cry loudly for a dead person, to mourn, to wear black clothes, to hang black curtains, rosettes, ornaments, to bear mourning badges or the dead person’s photographs. It is written in Khazânat-ur riwâyât, “It is not permissible to cover the janâza or the place of the janâza with black clothes or to wear black clothes.”]
It is sunna to pour water on the grave. It is not sunna in Hanafî Madhhab to make the top of the grave straight. It is sunna to make it protuberant and round like the ridge of a fish. It is not permissible to whitewash the inside of the grave with lime or to paint it. It is written towards the end of Halabî-i kebîr that it is permissible in Hanafî Madhhab to make mausoleums or buildings over the graves of savants and great men of the religion in order to protect them. This is written also in Mîzân and at the end of Uqûd-ud-durriyya. But it is harâm to make them for adornment. It is permissible to protect the grave by making a stone and cement wall or iron railing around it.
It is permissible to place tombstones over graves. It is not permissible to inscribe âyats, blessed names, poems, eulogies, the word Fâtiha or to put the dead person’s picture on the stone. Such things are bad bid’ats, though they have been done for years. Bad customs are not necessarily permissible. They (savants) said that it is permissible to write the person’s name and the hijri date of his death on the tombstone.
When an expectant mother dies, if the child is alive, her womb is cleaved on the left side and the child is taken out. If an expectant mother’s child dies inside the womb and if it will cause the mother’s death, an obstetrician inserts her hand through the vagina, cuts the child to pieces with her implements, and takes it out. If (it is feared that) the child will cause the mother’s death though it is alive, it is not permissible to cut [kill] the child. For, it is not known for certain that it will cause the mother’s death; it is an anticipated probability. It is not permissible to kill a human being to prevent an anticipated danger. If a person swallows someone else’s property and then dies, and if he has no other property to pay for it, his abdomen is cleft and the property is taken out.
There is more thawâb for men in attending their neighbor’s, relative’s or friend’s funeral than in performing supererogatory worship.
It is mustahab to bury the janâza in the city where he or she died. It is permissible to take the corpse to a two or four kilometre distance. The janâzas of Ya’qûb and Yûsuf ‘alaihim as-salâm’ (the Prophets Jacob and Joseph) were transported from Egypt to Damascus, but transportation (of corpses) was permissible in their Sharî’as (canon laws). It is written in the fifth volume of Radd-ul muhtâr that transportation is not permissible after the burial. It is bâtil (invalid) to will (in your last request) to be transported to somewhere else.
When you meet a young or old male member or an old female member of a bereaved family it is sunna to afford consolation to him. The condolatory statement is a certain Arabic expression: “A’zamallâhu ajrak wa ahsana azâ-ak wa ghafara li-mayyitik,”which means, “May Allâhu ta’âlâ add to your thawâbs, promote your grade, and give you beautiful patience, and may He forgive the sins of the mayyit (dead person).” There is no thawâb for disasters and grievances; there is thawâb for being patient about them. But they will cause the forgiveness of your sins even if you are not patient about your grievances. Illness is a grievance, too. It is permissible for the bereaved person to stay at some place for less than three days for consolation; but it is not permissible to stay in a mosque, and women are not permitted to stay anywhere (for consolation). Prayers are said after the burial, and (sections from) the Qur’ân al-kerîm are read or recited silently. It is makrûh to read them loudly. Then the jamâ’at and the bereaved must leave for their work. It is makrûh to offer consolation after the third day (of the death). However, it is not makrûh for those who are far away and those who have heard of the death later. Also, it is makrûh to offer consolation twice, to do it by the grave, in the dead person’s home or at his door. Consolation can be done by letter as well.
It is mustahab for the neighbors and the nearby relatives to send a day - and - night’s food to the bereaved family. When Ja’fer-i Tayyâr (radiyallâhu ’anh) was martyred with more than seventy wounds with swords and arrows, Rasûlullah (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) commanded food to be sent to his home. It is makrûh and an ugly bid’a to dole out food, such as sweetmeat, from the bereaved home. It is makrûh to make such things as sweetmeat and shortbread on the first, third, seventh, [fortieth or fifty-third] day, to mete out food by the grave, or to invite hâfizes, khodjas, reciters of mawlid and have them read (or recite) (religious poems, etc.), and give feasts. Such things are being done mostly for ostentation and fame. Whilst these bid’ats are being done many harâms are being committed as well. Also, it is bâtil (invalid) to will (in your last request) that these things be done. (Such wills) are not to be obeyed, for it is sinful. You must not wait until the fortieth day; you must make such presents as prayers, khatms and alms and have the congregational prayers such as the mawlîd performed, provided men and women will not gather together at the same place, on the very first day of the death. The thawâb (for pious acts) must be sent as presents to the dead person’s soul.
It is sinful to hold meetings incompatible with the Sharî’a for the dead in mosques and to have a mawlid recited in those meetings. As it is sinful for women and men to sit together for other occasions, it is worse for them to come together for a mawlid. To commit sins in acts of worships is worse than committing them otherwise. It is for these reasons that it is forbidden to perform salât at three harâm times. There is no thawâb for the salât performed at a forbidden time or place, and it is sinful. For, it has been performed despite the prohibition. It has been forbidden for women and men to sit together. This prohibition will be more sinful if it is committed in an act of worship in mosques.
It is sunna to do telqîn[47] [standing against the qibla and the grave] after the burial. It has been said (by savants) that it might as well not be done. It is said in the book Majmâ-ul anhur, “It was said that it would be possible to do telqîn even after death. For the soul and wisdom are given back, and the deceased one understands the telqîn. The same applies in the Madhhab of Shafi’î. Although some savants argued that telqîn has neither been commanded nor forbidden, (therefore it is not permissible), it would be better to do it.” It is written in the book Jawhara that it would be permissible to do telqîn to the deceased in the grave. In the book Nûr-ul yaqîn fî mabhas-it telqîn, it is proved with various evidence that it is sunna to do the telqîn. It is written in Jilâ-ul qulûb and Ghâliyya that: “Rasûlullah (’alaihissalâtu wassalâm) commanded telqîn to be done after the burial. And he himself performed the telqîn.” It is written in detail in the explanation of the book Birgivî Vasiyetnamesi by Kadızâde how the telqîn is to be done. There is no need to do telqîn to people who will not be interrogated in the grave. It is written in Sirâj, “The savants of Ahl-as sunna unanimously declare that all people will be questioned in the grave. A dead child will be inspired by Allâhu ta’âlâ how to answer.” Ibn Abdul Berr and Imâm-i Suyûtî say that, “Only the Ahl-i qibla will be questioned, whether they be true Believers or hypocrites.” Accordingly, the report stating that Hadrat ’Umar was questioned and giving a quotation of his answers is correct. Muhammad bin Alqamî, a disciple of Suyûtî, passed away in 929 hijri. He says in his explanation of his master’s book of ahâdîth, Jâmi’us saghîr: “Disbelievers are not questioned in the grave. Of Believers, nine kinds of people are not questioned in their grave: a martyr, a person who dies while keeping guard against the enemy, a person who dies of an epidemic disease such as plague or cholera, a person who does not flee when such a disease spreads, who waits patiently and then dies for some other reason, siddîqs, children who have not reached the age of puberty, those who die on Friday or on Friday night (the night between Thursday and Friday), those who read the Sûrat-at Tebâraka [and the Sûrat-as Sajda] every night, those who read the Sûrat-al Ikhlâs on their deathbed are not questioned in their grave.Prophets (’alaihimussalâm) are included among the siddîqs.” A deceased person who has remained in his coffin for a few days is not questioned. The questioning is done in the grave. Kâdı-zâde Ahmed Efendi says in the book Âmantu sharhi, which is named Farâid-ul-fawâid, “The questions are on some of the articles of îmân or on various articles of îmân and deeds; or different people are asked different questions.” The book Îmân ve Ibâdet, by Muderris Muhammed Demir Hâfiz, was published in 1344 [1926], and was authorized by the committee of scrutiny of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. It is written in that book, “The following must be memorized for answering the angels of Munker and Nakîr in the grave: My Rab (Creator, Owner) is Allâhu ta’âlâ, my Prophet is Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm’, my Dîn (religion) is Islâm, my (holy) Book is the Qur’ân-i ’aziymushshân, my Qibla is the Ka’ba-i sherîf, my Madhhab in belief is Ahl-i sunna wal jamâ’a, my Madhhab in deeds is Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa.” Ahmed Asım Efendi says in the explanation of Amâlî,“Even if a corpse was broken into pieces and then eaten by wolves, or burned in a fire, or decayed in the sea, he will certainly be questioned and will suffer the torment or enjoy the blessings of the grave. Disbelievers and sinners who die without repentance will suffer torment in the grave. It is said in hadîth-i sherifs that, “The grave will be either a garden out of heaven’s gardens or a pit out of hell’s pits.” and “We trust ourselves to Allah from suffering torment in the grave.” and “Don’t splash urine on yourself. Most people will suffer torment in the grave because of this.” and “The deceased person feels annoyance with the wailings of his spouse and children.” Rasûlullah (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) was standing beside two graves, when he said, “These two people are suffering torment in their graves, one of them because of not being careful about splashing urine, and the other one due to the gossip he spread among Muslims.” No matter at what age they die, both the men and the women in Paradise will be thirty-three years old.
17 – VISITING GRAVES
and
READING QUR’ÂN AL-KERÎM
Imâm-i Birgivî (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) says in his book Atfâl-ul muslimîn that it is sunna to visit Muslims’ graves. It is written in Ihyâ-ul ’ulûm, “It is mustahab to visit graves for remembering death and for taking warning from the dead and getting baraka from the graves of pious Muslims and Walîs.” To take a warning you imagine how the corpse rots, how its cheeks and lips fall down, how filthy water flows from its mouth, how its abdomen swells and bursts, how worms and insects swarm into it. Hâtim-i Esâm says, “If a person going by a cemetery does not think of them (the deceased) and pray for them, he has been treacherous to himself and to them.” Men have been commanded to visit graves. Rasûlullah (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) accursed women who visited graves. Some (savants) say that he gave them permission later. And some (savants) say that it is makrûh. It has been unanimously declared (by savants) that it is not permissible for women to carry the janâza. Fâtima (radiyallâhu ’anhâ) visited Hadrat Hamza’s grave, and trimmed and mended it every year. A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “If a person visits the graves of his parents or the grave of one of his parents every Friday, his sins will be pardoned, and he will have paid their rights.” Muhammad bin Wâsi’ visited graves every Friday. When it was suggested to him to visit them on Mondays, he said, “The deceased recognize those who visit them on Fridays, Thurdays and Saturdays.” Dahhâk says, “The deceased recognizes the person who visits his grave before sunrise on Saturday. This shows the virtue of Friday.” Rasûlullah (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) visited the graves of his Muslim relatives and of his Sahâba. A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “If a person says the following prayer as he visits the grave of a Believer, that deceased person will be relieved from torment till the Rising Day: Allâhumma innî es’aluka bi-hurmati Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ an lâ-tu’azziba hâzal-mayyit.” It is written in Shir’a, “For visiting a grave as prescribed by the sunna, you make an ablution, perform two rak’ats of namâz and send its thawâb to the soul of the deceased person. When you arrive at the cemetery you say, ‘Wa ’alaikum salâm.’ While saying the prayer transliterated above you sit against the deceased person’s face. You recite the Sûrat-al Yasîn-i sherîf or other sûras that you know. You say tasbîhs and pray for the deceased person.” Abul Qasim says, “When you read (or recite) sûras from the Qur’ân near the grave, the deceased person hears your voice and relaxes.” A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “If a person makes salâm as he goes by the grave of someone he knows, the mayyit (deceased person)recognizes him and acknowledges his salâm.” For this reason, when going by a grave, Abdullah ibn ’Umar (radiyallâhu ’anh) would stop and give salâm. Nâfi’ says, “Abdullah ibn ’Umar used to come to the grave of Rasûlullah (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) and say: Assalâmu alannabiyy, assalâmu Abî Bakr, assalâmu alâ Abî. I saw him say so more than a hundred times.” Al imâm-al-Ghazâlî (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) says in his book Ihyâ, “When visiting a grave, it is mustahâb to make salâm, to leave the qibla behind you and sit against the mayyit’s face. You do not touch the grave with your hands or face or kiss the grave.” The best way is to stand by his feet with your back towards the qibla (Ibni Âbidîn). A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “If a person going by a cemetery says the sûrat-al Ikhlâs eleven times and presents the thawâb to the deceased, he will be given as many thawâbs as the number of the deceased.” Ahmad bin Hanbal ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh’ says, “When you go to a cemetery say the sûra of Fâtihâ, the two sûras beginning with Qul’a’ûdhu, and the sûra of ikhlâs! Send the thawâb to the deceased. The thawâb will reach all of them.”
There are three groups of worships. Worships in the first group of worships involve property only. Such are zakât and alms. The second of worships group involve both property and body. Such are hajj and jihâd. Worships in the third group involve body alone. In this group are reading Qur’ân al-kerîm, performing namâz, saying tesbîh, tehlîl and tahmîd, and saying prayers. It has been declared unanimously by the savants of Ahl-as sunna that it is permissible to present the thawâb for the first group to the deceased and that the thawâb will reach them and will be useful for them. So is the case with praying, which is in the third group. That the case is so with the second group has been argued by most savants. There has been disagreement among the four Madhhabs about those of the third group with the exception of saying prayers. In the Madhhabs of Hanafî and Hanbalî the third group are like the first group. Hasan (radiyallâhu ’anh) says, “If you say the prayer, ‘Allâhumma Rabb-al-ajsâd-ilbâ liyeh wel’izâmin-nahirat-illatî harajat min-ad-dunyâ wa hiya bika mu’minatun. Ad-hil-aleyhâ rawhan min ’indika wa salâman minnî,’ when you enter a cemetery, you will be given as many thawâbs as the number of the deceased there.” Here we end our translation from the booklet Atfâl-ul muslimîn. Imâm-i Shâfi’î and Malikî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihimâ) said that the thawâb for the worships done with the body is not given to the deceased ones. But later Shafi’î savants said that if it is made by the deceased person’s grave and gifted, or if you make it (read Qur’ân al-kerîm, say a prayer, etc.) at a distance and then “O my Rab, please make equal amount of thawâb reach (the deceased),” it will reach the deceased.
A hadîth-i sherîf, which is written in the explanation of Shir’at-ul islâm, states, “The most valuable worship to be done by my Umma is to read Qur’ân al-kerîm by looking at the Book.” And it is written in Kitâb-ut tibyân, “The best recitation of the Qur’ân al-kerîm is the one done in salât.” [A hadîth, which exists in the ninety-third letter of the third volume of Maktûbât by Hadrat Muhammad Ma’thûm (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh), declares, “Recitation of the Qur’ân done in salât is more useful than that which is done outside of salât.” This hadîth-i sherîf is written in -i together with its documentaries]. Hadrat Alî (radiyallâhu ’anh) stated, “A hundred thawâbs are given for each letter of the recitation of the Qur’ân done when standing in the salât. When it is recited (or read) with an ablution outside the salât twenty-five thawâbs are given for each letter. When it is recited without an ablution ten thawâbs are given. And fewer thawâbs are given if it is recited when walking or doing some work.” Reading one âyat and thinking of its meaning produces much more thawâb than reading the whole Qur’ân and thinking about something else. It is a very ugly bid’at to read the Qur’ân melodiously, which has become customary among the hâfizes recently; it is very sinful. You must read the Qur’ân with a mellifluous and sorrowful voice and with fear of Allah. It is written in the Fatwâ of Bezzâziyya, “A person who reads the Qur’ân al-kerîm melodiously like singing will not be given any thawâb.” It is wâjib to say the A’ûdhu when beginning to read (or recite) a sûra or an âyat. And when beginning to read the Fâtiha it is wâjib also to say the Basmala. It is sunna to say the Basmala when beginning other âyats. A hadîth-i sheriff declares, “When you read the Qur’ân al-kerîm observing the rules of tajwîd, you will be given twenty thawâbs for each letter. You will be given ten thâwabs if you do not follow the rules of tajwîd.” It is one of the gravest sins to forget an âyat after having memorized it. A hadîth declares, “Nûrs