Likewise, if he prints beneficial books and dedicates them to the Muslims so they may benefit from them, or distributes printed copies of the Noble Qur’an, all of this counts as knowledge from which benefit is drawn after his death, and the one who finances it will receive reward and recompense from Allah, exalted is He.

In the same way, righteous offspring—male or female—who pray for him bring him reward, if Allah accepts their supplications. The same applies to giving charity on behalf of the deceased, for the texts state that charity may be offered for him and that it benefits him.

Some scholars—indeed a group of them—have given a general ruling that any act of obedience a Muslim performs and then assigns its reward to another Muslim, whether living or dead, will benefit that person.

Pilgrimage is another example: the evidence shows that it benefits the deceased, clearing his liability if ḥajj was obligatory for him and benefiting him even when it is voluntary. Thus ḥajj, charity, supplication, and waqf (charitable endowment) are all among the deeds that reach a person after his demise.

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Charity for the Dead

Question: May a woman give from her own personal wealth a charity on behalf of one of her deceased relatives without her husband’s knowledge, and what is the ruling if the charity is from her husband’s wealth?

Answer: It is permissible for a woman to give from her own wealth a charity on behalf of her deceased relatives, seeking Allah’s pleasure, so that its reward and benefit reach them. She has the right to dispose of her wealth and is free to use it within the limits laid down by Allah, and charity is a righteous deed whose reward reaches the one for whom it is given. There is, therefore, no harm in that.

As for giving charity from her husband’s wealth, the matter is as follows: