Is the practice of reciting Surah Yaaseen 40 times for alleviating a difficulty/problem valid?

Answer

Reciting Surah Yaaseen 40 times when afflicted with a problem is valid and permissible. However, reciting it in group form is not valid. It is reduced to an empty ritual which has no substantiation in the Shariah. The efficacy of the practice is eroded by a group of people most of whom are not affected by the calamity. The one who is afflicted should recite it in privacy. The following episode illustrates the wonderful benefit and efficacy of reciting Surah Yaaseen 40 times.

Once Imaam Naasiruddeen (rahmatullah alayh) during an illness lapsed into a deep coma. He was considered to have died, and was buried. During the night time he came out from the coma, and realized that he was buried in a grave. Extreme grief and fear overcame him, but he did not panic. He remembered that during times of calamity Surah Yaaseen should be recited 40 times. Thus he began reciting Surah Yaaseen.

After he had completed the recitation 39 times, he heard digging above. A kafan-thief was busy digging with the intention of stealing the kafan of the newly buried 'deceased'. Imaam Naasiruddeen (rahmatullah alayh) realized that the digging is by a kafan thief. He thought that if the thief became aware that the person inside was alive, he would flee in shock and abandon the task of opening the grave. In order not to frighten him, the Imaam recited the 40th Yaseen silently so that the thief could not hear.

Spontaneously with the completion of the 40th Yaaseen, the grave was opened up. The thief had completed his digging. As Imaam Naasiruddeen emerged from the Lahd of the Qabr, shock and fear overwhelmed the thief. He collapsed and died on the spot. The Imaam was overwhelmed with grief at this development. Reproaching himself, he said: 'I should have waited and pretended to be dead until he had completed his task of stealing the kafan. Only then should I have climbed out.'

Then he thought: 'If I return home immediately, the people will be shocked and overwhelmed with fear.' People will think that he was a ghost or some unnatural apparition. He waited until nightfall. Then went into the town. Stopping outside each house, he proclaimed loudly: "I am Imaam Naasiruddeen. You buried me whilst I was in a coma. I am alive."