Short answer
Yes, with conditions. Gathering to read the Quran together, sharing out the juz so it is completed, and making dua at the end is allowed, and the reward can be gifted to the deceased in the Hanafi school. Deobandi scholars warn against paying people to read, pressuring guests, or treating fixed days and customs as required.
A khatm for blessing or for isal al-thawab is permissible when it is voluntary and sincere. Taking payment to recite for the dead is not allowed, and the reward of a paid recitation does not reach. Fixing days such as the third or the fortieth, or customs believed necessary, is an innovation to avoid.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- The classical view is that the reward of recitation does not reach the dead by itself, though many later Shafi'is allow it when followed by a dua asking Allah to grant it.
Explanation
A khatam or khatm is a completion of the whole Quran. In many communities people gather, each reads one juz or more, and they finish the Quran in one sitting, then make dua. Others share the juz over WhatsApp and read at home.
Why it is allowed. The Prophet ﷺ said that no people gather in a house of Allah to recite the Book of Allah and study it together without tranquillity descending on them, mercy covering them and the angels surrounding them (Muslim). Anas ibn Malik is reported to have gathered his family to make dua when he completed the Quran. In the Hanafi school the reward of recitation reaches the deceased when it is gifted to them: see reciting the Quran for the dead.
The conditions scholars set:
- No payment for reading, and no reciters attending only for food or money.
- No pressure on people to come, and no blame on a family that does not hold one.
- No belief that it must be on a set day, such as the third, tenth or fortieth day after death.
- Each person reads properly, not rushing so fast that the words are spoiled.
- No mixing of men and women or other wrongs at the gathering.
Where these customs have become fixed and burdensome, many Deobandi muftis advise each person to read at home and gift the reward, which is free of them. For the dua at completion, see dua for completing the Quran.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Faatir 35:29
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ كِتَٰبَ ٱللَّهِ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأَنفَقُوا۟ مِمَّا رَزَقْنَٰهُمْ سِرًّۭا وَعَلَانِيَةًۭ يَرْجُونَ تِجَٰرَةًۭ لَّن تَبُورَ ﴿٢٩﴾
Indeed, those who recite the Book of Allah and establish prayer and spend [in His cause] out of what We have provided them, secretly and publicly, [can] expect a profit that will never perish -
Reciting the Book of Allah is a trade that never fails.
Sahih Muslim 2699
Sahih... وما اجتمع قوم في بيت من بيوت الله يتلون كتاب الله ويتدارسونه بينهم إلا نزلت عليهم السكينة ...
"No people gather in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, without tranquillity descending upon them."
Gathering to recite the Quran is virtuous.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Ijarah, discussion of payment for recitation. Paid recitation for the dead is not allowed and earns no reward to gift.
- Fatawa Mahmudiyya, Chapter on isal al-thawab and Quran khwani. Deobandi conditions for khatm gatherings.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.