died, for one who is still alive cannot be considered safe from trial. Such were the Companions of Muhammad.”

With this principle established, the practice known among Muslims in the favored generations was to worship Allah through the various prescribed acts of worship, both obligatory and voluntary: prayer, fasting, recitation, remembrance of Allah, and other acts. They would supplicate for believing men and women, as Allah commanded, both the living and the dead among them, in their funeral prayers, when visiting graves, and on other occasions.

It is reported from a number of the early Muslims that a supplication offered upon each completion of the Quran is answered. Thus, when someone supplicates after completing the Quran for himself, his parents, his teachers, and other believing men and women, this falls within what is prescribed. The same applies to supplicating for them during the night prayer and on other occasions when supplications are answered.

It is authentically reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed that charity be given on behalf of the deceased and that fasting be performed on their behalf. Giving charity on behalf of the dead is therefore a righteous deed, as is fasting on their behalf in the ways established by the Sunnah.

These and other proofs were cited by those scholars who held that it is permissible to dedicate the reward of financial and bodily acts of worship to deceased Muslims. This is the position of Ahmad, Abū Hanīfah, and a group of the followers of Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī. Thus, if someone dedicates the reward of fasting, prayer, or recitation to a deceased person, that is permissible.