nor did they give charity or recite the Quran and dedicate the reward to him. For every prayer, fast, Hajj, act of charity, and Quran recitation performed by Muslims, he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, receives a reward equal to theirs, without their rewards being diminished in any way. Parents, however, are different: not every good deed a Muslim performs brings his parents a reward equal to his. For this reason, he dedicates the reward to his parents and to others.
It is well known that the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, obeys his Lord, Almighty and Majestic, in His words:
“So when you are free, strive diligently.”
“And turn to your Lord with longing.”
He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, therefore directs his longing to none but Allah. It is established in an authentic hadith that he said:
“Seventy thousand of my community will enter Paradise without being called to account. They are those who do not ask others to perform ruqyah (healing recitation) for them, do not undergo cauterization, do not believe in omens, and put their trust in their Lord.”
These people belong to his community, and he praised them for not seeking ruqyah. Seeking ruqyah means asking someone else to perform it for oneself, and ruqyah is a form of supplication. He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to perform ruqyah for himself and for others, but he did not ask anyone to perform it for him. The version of this report that reads:
“They do not perform ruqyah”
is weak and erroneous. This helps clarify the true nature of his instruction to his community to supplicate: it is not a case of one created being asking another for something, which is inferior to asking Allah alone. For someone who does not ask people—but asks Allah alone—is superior to someone who asks people, and Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the master of the children of Adam.
A person’s supplication for another in their absence is more likely to be answered than supplication made in their presence, because it is more completely sincere and further removed from associating partners with Allah. How, then, can the supplication of someone who prays for another without being asked be likened to the supplication of