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Does the reward for donating a Quran reach the deceased?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars have unanimously agreed that the benefit of charity (sadaqah) and supplication (du'a) reaches the deceased. However, they differed on other voluntary acts, such as fasting, voluntary prayers, and reciting the Qur'an. Ahmad, Abu Hanifah, and some of Shafi'i's followers held the view that the deceased benefits from these acts. In contrast, Malik and Shafi'i were of the opinion that these acts do not reach the deceased, citing the verse: (And that man can have nothing but what he strives for) [An-Najm: 39], and the hadith: "When the son of Adam dies, his deeds come to an end except for three." The first group responded to the verse by saying that a person is entitled to their own striving and possesses it, but the striving of another is the possession of that other, and this other has the right to dedicate their striving to whomever they wish. Regarding the hadith, they argued that the mention of the child and his supplication is specific because the child is from his father's earning, and the hadith did not state that one does not benefit from the deeds of others. Therefore, the correct view is that the reward for reciting the Qur'an reaches the deceased, and some Shafi'is believe that dedicating the reward of recitation to the deceased after its completion is considered a form of supplication.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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