I say: Under that heading he cited two hadiths, neither of which—absolutely, whether explicitly or implicitly—mentions anything except a child’s giving charity on behalf of his parent, and on that point there is no disagreement. As for charity offered by someone other than the child, the apparent wording of the texts indicates that it does not reach the deceased and that the deceased derives no benefit from it. For further details see Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz, p. 177, and Tafsīr al-Manār, vol. 8, p. 254.

6 – 574. “From Sahl ibn Saʿd (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was brought a drink, so he drank, and to his right was a young boy …” (the hadith).

I say: In al-Bukhārī’s version, the reason he ﷺ began with him was simply that he ﷺ had asked for the drink, so there is no proof here that the Sunnah is to start with the senior member of the gathering, as has become widespread among later writers. The compiler himself hinted at this in Chapter 111. The correct approach, therefore, is to delete from that heading the phrase “after the one who begins” and to leave the chapter title unrestricted, in keeping with his ﷺ general statement in the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās: “Those on the right first, those on the right first.” Beginning with him does not conflict with that general wording, as we have explained. There are other considerations that support the general rule; some readers may detect them, and this is not the place to elaborate.

7 – He said: “Chapter: The Sunnah of Friday,” number 203.

I say: He apparently means the post-Friday Sunnah, for the hadiths he cites in the chapter all pertain to the prayer after Friday. As for a pre-Friday Sunnah, not a single authentic hadith exists about it at all—contrary to the efforts of certain partisans among the Ḥanafīs. The compiler—may Allah have mercy on him—indicated this by omitting every such report from the chapter, even though some of them are found in Sunan Ibn Mājah(1); but they are extremely weak, as I clarified in my treatise al-Ajwibah al-Nāfiʿah(2). Will the blind imitators take heed of the author’s practice?