Praise
be to Allah
If you want to
benefit your father and honour him after his death, then you can benefit him
in the following ways:
1.
Offering sincere supplication (du‘aa’) for him.
Allah, may He be
exalted, tells us that Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) said (interpretation of
the meaning):
“My
Lord, make me an establisher of prayer, and [many] from my descendants. Our
Lord, and accept my supplication.
Our Lord,
forgive me and my parents and the believers the Day the account is
established”
[Ibraaheem
14:40-41].
It was narrated
that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of
Allah (sa) (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When a man
dies, all his good deeds come to an end except three: ongoing charity (sadaqah
jaariyah), beneficial knowledge, or a righteous son who will pray for
him.” Narrated by Muslim (1631).
It was narrated
from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah, may He be blessed
and exalted, may raise a man in status, and he will say, How did this come
to me? Allah will say: By your son’s supplication for you.” Narrated by at-Tabaraani
in ad-Du‘aa’ (p. 375); attributed by al-Haythami in Majma‘
az-Zawaa’id (10/234) to al-Bazzaar; also narrated by al-Bayhaqi in
as-Sunan al-Kubra (7/78).
Adh-Dhahabi said
in al-Muhadhdhab (5/2650): Its isnad is qawiy. Al-Haythami said: Its
men are the men of as-Saheeh, apart from ‘Aasim ibn Bahdalah, who is
hasan in hadith.
2.
Giving charity on his behalf.
3.
Performing Hajj and ‘umrah on his behalf, and dedicating the
reward thereof to him.
We have already
discussed these issues in detail on our website, in the answer to question
no. 12652.
4.
Paying off his debts
As Jaabir did
for his father ‘Abdullah ibn Haraam (may Allah be pleased with them both),
on the instructions of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him). The story was narrated by al-Bukhaari (2781).
With regard to
what he missed of fasting Ramadan and giving zakaah, his son cannot make up
for it. If a Muslim deliberately falls short in these two obligatory duties,
then he must inevitably carry the burden of sin for that, and no one can do
them on behalf of another.
Similar to that
is the case of prayer; no one can pray on behalf of another.
Our Lord, may He
be glorified and exalted, has told us that the Muslim will be requited for
his deeds; if his deeds are good, then the requital will be good, and if
they are bad, then it will be bad.
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“So
whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it,
And whoever does
an atom’s weight of evil will see it”
[az-Zalzalah
99:7-8].
But Allah may
overlook bad deeds by His mercy and grace.
However, zakaah
is like a debt: it rightfully belongs to those who are entitled to zakaah.
So you should work out the zakaah that your father did not give whilst he
was alive, and give it on his behalf, and we hope that that will be a means
of relief for him.
We ask Allah to
reward you with good for your love for your father and your keenness to
honour him, and we ask Allah to pardon him.
And Allah knows
best.