Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
What is the ruling on offering nafl (voluntary) prayers and conveying their reward to the deceased?
This is an innovation (bidʿah) and an impermissible form of conveying reward (iṣāl al-thawāb). None of the early generations (salaf al-ummah) held this belief or practiced it.
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما said:
“لا يصلي احد عن احد”
No one can perform prayer on behalf of another.
(Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Nasāʾī: 2918, with an authentic chain)
There is consensus (ijmāʿ) that no one can pray on behalf of another.
❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr رحمه الله (d. 463 AH) writes:
“The Muslims have consensus that no one can perform prayer on behalf of another, whether for a living person or a deceased, whether the prayer is obligatory, Sunnah, or Nafl.”
(Al-Istidhkār: 10/167, 12/66)
❀ ʿAllāmah ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 855 AH) writes:
“قد اجمعوا انه لا يصلي احد عن احد”
The Muslims are unanimous that no one can pray on behalf of another.
(ʿUmdat al-Qārī: 9/125)
✦ Question:
What is the ruling on offering nafl (voluntary) prayers and conveying their reward to the deceased?
✦ Answer:
This is an innovation (bidʿah) and an impermissible form of conveying reward (iṣāl al-thawāb). None of the early generations (salaf al-ummah) held this belief or practiced it.
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما said:
“لا يصلي احد عن احد”
No one can perform prayer on behalf of another.
(Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Nasāʾī: 2918, with an authentic chain)
There is consensus (ijmāʿ) that no one can pray on behalf of another.
❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr رحمه الله (d. 463 AH) writes:
“The Muslims have consensus that no one can perform prayer on behalf of another, whether for a living person or a deceased, whether the prayer is obligatory, Sunnah, or Nafl.”
(Al-Istidhkār: 10/167, 12/66)
❀ ʿAllāmah ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 855 AH) writes:
“قد اجمعوا انه لا يصلي احد عن احد”
The Muslims are unanimous that no one can pray on behalf of another.
(ʿUmdat al-Qārī: 9/125)
