the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, nor was it known from the Rightly Guided Caliphs. Moreover, it may become a source of trial for the occupant of the grave: today he recites there hoping that the occupant of the grave will benefit, and tomorrow he recites there seeking blessing through the occupant of the grave. He may then regard recitation at the grave as better than recitation in the mosque, and thus a source of trial arises.

An important issue: reciting Surah Ya-Sin over the deceased after his burial is an innovation. The Prophet’s statement, “Recite Ya-Sin over your dying ones,” (1) cannot validly be cited as evidence for this, because there is no benefit in reciting over him once he is dead. A person only benefits from recitation over him so long as his soul remains in his body. Moreover, the deceased is in need of supplication for him; this is why the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed those present with a dying person to supplicate for him, saying, “For the angels say amen to what you say.” (2)

Whatever act of devotion a person performs, and whose reward he assigns to a deceased or living Muslim, benefits that person …

His statement, “Whatever act of devotion a person performs, and whose reward he assigns to a deceased or living Muslim, benefits that person”: this is a general principle concerning dedicating the reward of acts of devotion to others—whether it is permissible, and whether it benefits the other person or not.

The author states in this principle: “Any act of devotion he performs”—that is, any and every kind of act of devotion—“if he performs it and assigns its reward to a deceased or living Muslim, it benefits that person.” It would have been better had he said, “for a deceased or living Muslim,” because his wording, “for a deceased Muslim or a living person,” might lead someone to ask: “Does this mean a living Muslim or a disbeliever?”