for him, supplication is made for him, and forgiveness is sought for him—all of which are the efforts of others. Likewise, as established above, he benefits from charity given and slaves freed on his behalf, although these too are the efforts of others. Whatever answer they give concerning the cases on which there is consensus also serves as the answer of the other side concerning the disputed cases. Various answers have been given to this.

The sound answer, however, is that Allah Most High did not say, “A person benefits only from his own striving.” Rather, He said:

“A person will have nothing but what he strives for.”

Thus, he owns only his own striving and has no entitlement to anything beyond it. Another person’s striving belongs to that person, just as one owns only one’s own wealth and the benefits one provides, while another person’s wealth and the benefits he provides likewise belong to him. Yet if that other person freely gives these to him, this is permissible. The same applies here: if someone freely gives him the benefit of his striving, Allah causes him to benefit from it, just as He causes him to benefit from that person’s supplication for him and charity on his behalf. He benefits from whatever reaches him from any Muslim, whether a relative or otherwise, just as he benefits from the funeral prayer offered for him and the supplications made for him at his grave.