For further details see al-Kattānī (p. 6) (1). Granted, many later writers disregard this technical distinction, yet I would never have expected the compiler—may Allah have mercy on him—to follow them in that; protection from error belongs to Allah alone. The author himself, in his Taqrīb, pointed out the difference between al-Bukhārī’s connected narrations and his muʿallaq reports with respect to their soundness. Al-Suyūṭī explained the matter fully in his Tadrīb (pp. 60–63), which is sufficient.

4. After ḥadith 954 he writes: “Al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is recommended to recite something of the Qur’an at the grave of the deceased after he has been buried; if they complete the entire Qur’an, that is commendable.”

I say: I do not know where al-Shāfiʿī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—said this, and I strongly doubt that it is authentically attributed to him. Why should it be so when his established position is that the reward of Qur’anic recitation does not reach the dead? Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr transmits this view from him in his commentary on the verse, “And that man will have only what he strives for” (Sūrat al-Najm 53:39). Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah likewise noted the lack of any authentic statement from Imām al-Shāfiʿī on this question, saying in al-Iqtiḍāʾ: “No statement from al-Shāfiʿī himself on this matter has been preserved, for to him it was an innovation. Mālik said: ‘We have never known anyone who did that.’ Thus it is clear that the Companions and their Successors did not practice it.”

I add: This is also Aḥmad’s view—namely, that no recitation is to be done at the grave—as I documented in my book Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz (pp. 192–193). It is likewise the conclusion reached by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him—as I demonstrated in the same work (pp. 173–176).

5. He then says: “Chapter: Giving charity on behalf of the deceased and supplicating for him.”