This
research is the summary of a series of lectures delivered at the Imam
University/Faculty of Shari’ah. They deal with important issues and aspects of
Aqeedah
Imam at-Tahawi, may
Allah have mercy on him, said in his great book: ‘Aqeedah
at-Tahawiyah’:‘The deceased would benefit from the Du’aa of
the deceased and from their Sadaqah.’Is this statement correct? We will clarify this
as we progress in this research.
First Issue: Does the
reward of deeds (in general, regardless of their type) reach the dead person or
not?
Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama'ah
did not disagree with one another in this issue; rather those who disagreed
with this are the people of Bid'ah (innovation).
Sheik Islam b.
Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, clarified this saying:
‘The scholars of Islam
are agreed that the deceased would benefit from the Du’aa which is made for
him, and the deeds which are done on his behalf. This is known from the Deen by necessity…and the
proof of this is in the Qur’an, Sunnah and Ijmaa (consensus of the
scholars)…whoever differs regarding this is from the people of Bid’ah…’
Proofs from the Qur’an:
1. The Angels supplicate
for the believers that Allah forgive them and save them from the Hell-Fire.
Allah says concerning this:
“Those angels who bear
the Throne of Allah and those around it glorify the praises of their Rubb, and
believe in Him, and ask forgiveness for those who believe in the Oneness of
Allah saying: ‘Our Rubb! You comprehend all things in mercy and
knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow Your way, and save them from
the torment of the blazing Fire.”
(Surah Ghafir 7)
2. The Messengers sought
forgiveness for the believers. Allah says:
‘Seek forgiveness for
your sin, and seek forgiveness for the believers (male and female).
’(Surah Ghafir 7)
Proofs from the Sunnah:
1. Muslims perform
Jinaazah (funeral) prayer for the deceased and supplicate Allah for him in it.
2. A’ishah (may Allah be
pleased with her) said that a man approached the Prophet (may Allah exalt his
mention) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, my mother passed away, and she left no
Wa’siyah (bequeathment)…and were she to do so, I think she would have given
something out in Sadaqah (charity). Would she receive a reward if I give
Sadaqah out on her behalf? He said: ‘Yes.’(authentic)
3. The Prophet (may
Allah exalt his mention) said: ‘He who dies, while not completing the fast, his guardian would
fast on his behalf.’
Proofs of the People of Bid’ah & the refutation of
these proofs:
The people of Bid’ah -as
we have stated above- say that the dead person would not benefit from any
deed…they use as proof:
Allah says: ‘And man can have nothing
but what he does (good or bad).’
(Surah an-Najm #39).
Refutation:
First of all we say that
this opinion is not correct. It is rejected by the Qur’an, Sunnah and Ijmaa
(consensus of the scholars). Ahlus-Sunnah answered this proof in a number of
ways, some of these ‘answers’ are considered weak, while others are strong:
1. They said that the
‘man’ referred to in the ayat was a Kaafir (unbeliever) or it referred to the
living…therefore it would not involve the Muslim or the deceased. In any case
this is a weak answer.
2. The strongest answer
to this proof is the answer of Sheik Islam b. Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy
on him. He said:
‘The Qur’an has not
negated the fact that the person would benefit from the deeds of others, rather
it only negated the fact that the person would own these deeds (i.e. that these
deeds would belong to him exclusively), and there is a difference between these
two issues. …’
Second Issue: Now that we have affirmed that the deceased would
benefit from the deeds of the living…would the deceased benefit from every deed
or from some of them?
This Khilaaf
(difference) is present amongst Ahlus-Sunnah.
Important Note: Although
Ahlus-Sunnah differed amongst themselves in this issue, none of them stated
that the other (i.e. who held a different opinion) was not part of Ahlus-Sunnah
due to this difference. A Muslim should not ‘jump the gun’ and throw around
titles such as: ‘Mubtadi’ and ‘Faasiq’.
Important note: Keep in
mind that we are not talking about the case in which it is compulsory upon the
person to fast, and he dies while not being able to complete the fast or
prayer; rather, we are talking about the case where a person gives the reward
of his deed to the deceased.
What the Scholars agreed
upon and differed over:
The scholars agreed that
it is lawful to give the reward of acts of worship such as Sadaqah (Zakat and
other like acts of worship which deal with money) or acts of worship which
combine money and physical actions to the deceased. However, they differed
concerning pure acts of worship (such as Salah, and recitation of Qur’an).
The most correct
opinion: Sheik Islam b. Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: ‘The
authentic proofs point out that one should fast on behalf of the deceased if he
vowed to fast, and the Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention equated it with
paying off the debt. As for the Hajj it is lawful to give its reward to the
deceased and there is only an odd difference of opinion in this case.’
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