Imām Aḥmad (16521) narrated: “Ṣafwān told us: The elders used to say, ‘When Sūrah Yā Sīn is recited over the dead, its recitation lightens their burden.’” Ibn Ḥajar declared the chain sound in al-Iṣābah.

The author of al-Firdaws also transmitted, with a chain, from Abū al-Dardāʾ and Abū Dharr that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whenever a dying person passes away and Yā Sīn is recited beside him, Allah grants him ease.”

Shaykh al-Islām said: “It is recommended to recite Yā Sīn in the presence of one who is in the throes of death.” Some have explained the wisdom behind this practice: the sūrah speaks of the transience of the world, the promise of resurrection and the Day of Judgment, the delights of Paradise and what Allah has prepared therein. As it is recited, the dying person recalls these realities, becomes detached from the world he is leaving, turns his heart toward the Hereafter he is approaching, and so the departure of his soul is made easier. The sūrah, moreover, contains a variety of textual and rational proofs for the possibility of resurrection and life after death.

The second possibility is that the directive concerns reciting the sūrah for the dead after their passing, with the intention of conveying the reward of the recitation to them.

Disagreement among the scholars

The devotional acts that may be gifted to the deceased—or to the living—fall into two categories: those on which there is consensus, and those about which the scholars differ. Among the agreed-upon acts are:

1 – Supplication and seeking forgiveness. The proof is the verse: “And those who came after them say, ‘Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith’” (al-Hashr 59:10).

2 – Charity. Al-Bukhārī (1388) and Muslim (1004) relate from ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah said, “Messenger of Allah, my mother died suddenly and left no will. Will she receive a reward if I give charity on her behalf?” He replied, “Yes.”

3 – Ḥajj and ʿUmrah. Al-Bukhārī (1852) narrates from Ibn ʿAbbās: “A woman from Juhaynah said, ‘Messenger of Allah, my mother vowed to perform ḥajj but did not do so before she died. May I perform ḥajj on her behalf?’ He said, ‘Yes, perform ḥajj for her. Tell me, if your mother owed a debt, would you have repaid it—’