A man says to me: My father has passed away, and he performed Hajj, praise be to Allah, more than once, and he also performed 'Umrah. But if I go to the Sacred House and pray two rak'ahs in the Haram for my deceased father, is this permissible or not?

The questioner : A man says to me: My father has passed away, and he performed Hajj, praise be to Allah, more than once, and he also performed 'Umrah. But if I go to the Sacred House and pray two rak'ahs in the Haram for my deceased father, is this permissible or not?

The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible for a person to give charity on behalf of his father or mother, or his relatives, or others from among the Muslims. There is no difference between charity, prayers, fasting, Hajj, and other acts. However, the question we should ask is: Is this among the prescribed matters, or among the permissible matters that are not prescribed? We say: This is among the permissible matters that are not prescribed. What is prescribed for the son is to make du'a' for his father, except in the case of obligatory matters, where he performs on behalf of his father what Allah made obligatory upon him and he did not perform. For example, if a person dies and he has fasting remaining, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There is no difference in this between fasting that is obligatory by the original ruling of the Shari'ah, such as fasting in Ramadan, or fasting that is obligatory because a person bound himself to it, such as fasting a vow. Here we say: Offering acts of worship or their reward to relatives is not among the prescribed matters, but rather it is among the permissible matters. What is prescribed is making du'a', based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): He said: He did not say: "Or a righteous son who prays for him, or fasts for him, or gives charity on his behalf." This indicates that the best thing a son leaves for his father or mother after death is du'a', or a righteous son who makes du'a' for him. If someone says: We cannot understand how this can be permissible and not prescribed, and how can we say it is permissible and not prescribed? We say: Yes, it is permissible and not prescribed. It is permissible because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) allowed it. A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: Similarly, Sa'd ibn Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) made his date palms charity for his mother, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved that for him. But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not command his Ummah to do this as a legislative command for them; rather, he allowed those who sought permission to do so. The parallel to this, where something is permissible but not prescribed, is the story of the man the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent on a military expedition. He used to recite for his companions and conclude with When they returned, they informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of this, and he said: He said: It is the description of the Most Merciful, and I love to recite it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved his action, which was concluding his prayer recitation with But the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not prescribe it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not conclude his prayer with and he did not command his Ummah to do so. Thus, it is clear that some actions are permissible to do, but they are not prescribed, meaning that if a person does them, he is not blamed, but he is not asked to do them.
Offering acts of worship, such as prayer, charity, fasting, and Hajj, to parents and relatives is among the permissible matters, but the best of that is to make du'a' for them, because this is what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to in his saying:

The questioner : Yes.