Offering a sacrifice on behalf of the deceased

A question about offering a sacrifice on behalf of the deceased, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that a sacrifice on behalf of the deceased is permitted, the Hanbali position and the view of al-Abbadi among the Shafi'is, because the sacrifice is a financial charity whose reward reaches the dead. ¹

The questioner asked whether a sacrifice may be offered on behalf of someone who has died. ¹

The Department answered that a sacrifice on behalf of the deceased is permitted, that this is the Hanbali position as in Kashshaf al-Qina by al-Buhuti (6/428), that al-Abbadi among the Shafi'is held it as reported by Ibn Qadi Shuhba in Bidayat al-Muhtaj (4/358), and that it is also reported from some Malikis and Hanafis. ¹ It noted that Abu Dawud gave a chapter of his Sunan to sacrifice on behalf of the dead, narrating from Hanash that he saw Ali ibn Abi Talib sacrifice two rams and that Ali told him the Prophet had instructed him to sacrifice on his behalf, and narrating from Jabir ibn Abdullah that the Prophet sacrificed on behalf of his community, which includes those who have died. ¹ It said the texts show that the reward of fasting and hajj reaches the dead, so the sacrifice, a purely financial act of worship that counts as charity, reaches them all the more, and that scholars agree the reward of charity reaches the dead; for these reasons the Department holds it permitted. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4371, dated 30 March 2026. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.