“or a righteous child who prays for him.” He had married to safeguard his own chastity and in hope of righteous offspring; Allah granted him such a virtuous child, and that came about through his own initiative. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The finest of what you consume is what you earn, and your children are part of what you earn.” (1)

If the child is righteous and supplicates for his father after the latter’s death, the prayer reaches him. In this way he is benefited by the deed of another through something he himself set in motion.

Outside this specific case lies the point of disagreement. The Exalted says, “That man shall have nothing except what he strives for” (an-Najm 53:39). The plain sense of the verse is that a person’s deeds do not profit anyone else except in what he personally caused. A group of scholars adhered to this verse and declared that, without exception, only one’s own actions benefit him. Yet the Prophet ﷺ informed us of matters by which the deceased are helped through the deeds of others, such as supplication and seeking forgiveness: “Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith” (al-Hashr 59:10); “Seek forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and believing women” (Muhammad 47:19). These verses embrace the dead as well.

The Prophet ﷺ further instructed the Muslims that, when they bury their brother, they should stand by his grave,