❖ Sharʿī Ruling on Giving Charity on Behalf of the Deceased ❖
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1, Kitāb al-Janāʾiz, p. 537
❖ Question:
Is it permissible to give charity (ṣadaqah) on behalf of a deceased person?
Some people argue that the narrations mentioning charity on behalf of the deceased are limited only to fulfilling vows (manadhir), and since a vow is a kind of debt, its fulfillment becomes necessary — as in the narration involving Anas (رضي الله عنه) giving charity on behalf of his mother.
Is this understanding correct?
(Questioner: Ṭāriq ʿAlī Brohī, Karachi)
❖ Response:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾAmma baʿd!
✅ Charity on Behalf of the Deceased Is Sharʿan Permissible
✔ Giving charity on behalf of a deceased person is proven through authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) aḥādīth.
✔ The issue is not limited to vows (manadhir) or wills (waṣiyyah) only, but is applicable in general.
❖ Evidence from Ḥadīth:
The Prophet ﷺ said to ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ and Hishām ibn al-ʿĀṣ (رضي الله عنهما) regarding their father al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil as-Sahmī:
“If he had been a Muslim, and you had freed a slave, given charity, or performed ḥajj on his behalf — it would have reached him.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Waṣāyā, Bāb Mā Jāʾa fī Waṣiyyati al-Ḥarbī Yuslim, Ḥadīth: 2883)
(Also in: as-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī, Vol. 6, p. 289; chain is ḥasan)
❖ Key Clarification:
✔ This ḥadīth is not conditioned upon any vow (naẓr) or will (waṣiyyah).
✔ The wording is general, and there is no textual restriction that binds its application to such conditions.
✔ Therefore, interpreting the ruling as limited to cases of vow fulfillment is incorrect.
✅ Conclusion:
❖ It is Sharʿan permissible to:
① Give charity (ṣadaqah)
② Free a slave
③ Perform Ḥajj or ʿUmrah
…on behalf of a deceased Muslim, even if the deceased did not explicitly vow it.
❖ This act is beneficial and reaches the deceased, as established in authentic ḥadīth.
(Shahādat Magazine, February 2000)
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
