and seek forgiveness for him and beseech Allah to make him steadfast (1). Likewise, charity benefits the deceased. A man came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and informed him that his mother had died, and that had she been able to speak she would have given charity. “May I give charity on her behalf?” he asked. “Yes,” the Prophet replied (2).

Hajj as well brings benefit to someone other than the performer, as the proofs establish. In the report concerning Shubrumah he ﷺ said, “First perform Hajj for yourself; then perform Hajj on behalf of Shubrumah” (3). This is a deed carried out for another that profits the deceased. In another instance, a woman came asking about performing Hajj for her mother, explaining that the obligation of Hajj had reached her yet she had not fulfilled it. “May I perform Hajj on her behalf?” she asked. He said, “Yes—perform Hajj for your mother” (4).

Accordingly, these acts—supplication, seeking forgiveness, charity, Hajj, and ʿumrah—benefit the dead when done by others, and thus they stand as specific exceptions to the verse, “and that man shall have nothing but what he strives for” (an-Najm 53:39).