Ruling on Offering Acts of Worship on Behalf of the Deceased
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah guide you and protect you, O honorable Shaykh! What is the ruling on performing the circumambulation (tawaf) around the Ka'bah on behalf of a deceased person? Does the circumambulation include two rak'ahs like the tawaf? And what is the ruling on those who go and perform one or two 'Umrah pilgrimages together? Please inform us, and may Allah guide you!
You have combined three questions, my brother! The first: A person performing tawaf on behalf of a deceased person,The correct view: it is permissible, and the deceased benefits from it, and its reward reaches him; but there is something better than that, which is making du'a' for the deceased. Making du'a' for the deceased is better than performing 'Umrah for him, and better than Hajj, and tawaf, and recitation, and prayer, and fasting, and the evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (When the son of Adam dies, his deeds are cut off except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge that benefits, or a righteous son who makes du'a' for him) So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) shifted from the deed to the du'a', even though the hadith is about the deed,And he did not say: or a righteous son who works for him.
So we say: If a person performs tawaf around the Ka'bah with the intention that it is for so-and-so, there is nothing wrong with it; but if he performs tawaf for himself and makes du'a' for the deceased, that is better.
And the prayer of two rak'ahs behind the Maqam follows the tawaf, so whenever a person performs tawaf, he prays two rak'ahs behind the Maqam of Ibrahim.
You have combined three questions, my brother! The first: A person performing tawaf on behalf of a deceased person,The correct view: it is permissible, and the deceased benefits from it, and its reward reaches him; but there is something better than that, which is making du'a' for the deceased. Making du'a' for the deceased is better than performing 'Umrah for him, and better than Hajj, and tawaf, and recitation, and prayer, and fasting, and the evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (When the son of Adam dies, his deeds are cut off except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge that benefits, or a righteous son who makes du'a' for him) So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) shifted from the deed to the du'a', even though the hadith is about the deed,And he did not say: or a righteous son who works for him.
So we say: If a person performs tawaf around the Ka'bah with the intention that it is for so-and-so, there is nothing wrong with it; but if he performs tawaf for himself and makes du'a' for the deceased, that is better.
And the prayer of two rak'ahs behind the Maqam follows the tawaf, so whenever a person performs tawaf, he prays two rak'ahs behind the Maqam of Ibrahim.