Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, president of the Fiqh Council of North America, states that: “We would like to state that “Surat Yaseen” is called by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as ‘the Heart of the Qur’an’. It contains very important message about the resurrection and life after death. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, recommended its reading in front of a dying person. Its reading at the time of distress is also helpful as mentioned in several Prophetic Hadiths.
It is reported in one of Hadith that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “I wish if every person in my Ummah keeps this Surah (i.e.SuratYaseen) in his/her heart.”
thus, we should memorize this Surah and should read it regularly.”
Moreover, Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, concludes:
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported to have said: “Yaseen is the heart of the Qur’an. The one who recites it solely for Allah’s Sake, his sins will be forgiven. Read it on behalf of your dead.” (Reported by At-Tirmidhi)
In his Tafseer, Imam Al-Qurtubi states that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, quoted the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as saying:
“Reciting Yaseen at the beginning of the day makes the rest of the day easy for the person till night approaches. Also, reciting it with the approach of the night makes the rest of the night easy till the next day.”
These Hadiths as well as many others do urge Muslims to recite this Surah oftly.”
Elaborating on reciting the Qur’an including surat Yaseen on behalf of the dead, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
“It is the view of the majority of Muslims, including the scholars of jurisprudence and Hadith, that we are allowed to read the Qur’an on our own volition and donate the rewards for the dead parents or relatives or friends. If we do so, Allah being generous, we believe He will not refuse to send such rewards to them.
therefore, you may read any part of the Qur’an and pray to Allah to send rewards for any of your dead parents, relatives, or friends you may wish. Since Yaseen is an important surah of the Qur’an and is often referred to as the heart of the Qur’an, there is no reason to exempt it. There is also a report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) which states, “Read Yaseen on your dead ones!” Although some scholars take this hadith to mean that it refers to the time of dying as opposed to the time after death, there is no need to stop anyone from reading it even if we were to accept the above interpretation.”