Are the Deeds of the Living Presented to the Deceased?
Source: Fatāwā Amanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri
❖ Question:
Are the deeds of the living presented to the deceased?
❖ Answer:
There is no authentic proof that the deeds of the living are presented to their deceased relatives. This view is without evidence. All the marfū‘ (attributed to the Prophet ﷺ) and mawqūf (attributed to the Companions) narrations in this matter are weak and unestablished.
✿ Examination of Narrations
① From Abu Ayyūb al-Anṣārī رضي الله عنه:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
تعرض على الموتى أعمالكم...
(Your deeds are presented to the deceased. If they see good, they rejoice and say: “O Allah, this is Your blessing, so complete it upon Your servant.” If they see evil, they say: “O Allah, turn him back, do not disgrace him by his evil deeds, for your deeds are presented to them.”)
(Kitāb al-Majrūḥīn by Ibn Ḥibbān 1/340, al-Kāmil by Ibn ‘Adī 4/311)
- The chain is fabricated.
- Salām al-Ṭawīl is weak and abandoned.
② From Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh رضي الله عنهما:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
إن أعمالكم تعرض على عشائركم وأقربائكم فى قبورهم...
(Your deeds are presented to your deceased families and relatives in their graves. If good, they rejoice; if otherwise, they supplicate for your guidance.)
(Musnad Abī Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī: 1903)
- The chain is fabricated.
- Ṣilat ibn Dīnār is weak and abandoned.
- The narration also has ‘an‘anah of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī.
③ From Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
إن أعمالكم تعرض على أقاربكم وعشائركم من الأموات...
(Your deeds are presented to your deceased relatives and families. If good, they rejoice; if evil, they say: “O Allah, do not take their souls until You guide them as You guided us.”)
(Musnad Aḥmad 3/164)
- The chain is weak.
- Sufyān al-Thawrī is a mudallis and did not clarify hearing.
- His shaykh in this narration is ambiguous and unknown.
④ From Abu Ayyūb al-Anṣārī رضي الله عنه:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
إن أعمالكم تعرض على أقاربكم وعشائركم من أهل الآخرة...
(Your deeds are presented to your deceased relatives and families of the Hereafter. If good, they rejoice and supplicate for its completion; if evil, they supplicate that you be granted good deeds instead.)
(al-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī 4/129, al-Mu‘jam al-Awsaṭ 148)
- The chain is fabricated.
- Muslimah ibn ‘Alī is abandoned and a rejected narrator.
- ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Salamah is majhūl (unknown).
- The narration through al-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr (4/130) is also weak.
- Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Ayyāsh is not reliable; he used to narrate from his father what he had not heard.
⑤ From Abu Ayyūb al-Anṣārī رضي الله عنه:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
تعرض أعمالكم على الموتى...
(Your deeds are presented to the deceased. If they see good, they rejoice and say: “O Allah, this is Your blessing upon Your servant, so complete it for him.” If evil, they supplicate for him to repent.)
(al-Manāmāt by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā: 3)
- The chain is weak.
- Thawr ibn Yazīd al-Kalā‘ī did not meet Abū Rahm Aḥzāb ibn Usayd.
Conclusion
- The concept that the deeds of the living are presented to their deceased relatives has no authentic basis.
- All narrations on this topic are either weak, fabricated, or contain unreliable narrators.
- Therefore, it is incorrect to believe or claim that the deceased are shown the deeds of their living relatives.
