Can Isale Sawaab be done for people who are alive?

· 24 Safar 1437 AH1 min readFatwa 34580English

Question

IS DOING EESAAL E SAWAL TO THE PEOPLE ALIVE IS ALLOWED? IF YES THEN CAN I DO EESAAL E SAWAB TO THE PERSONS WHOM I HAVE DONE THE GHEEBAH? AND ALSO REPENT TOWARDS ALLAH TALA .. THEN MY ISAAL E SAWAB WILL COMPENSATE THE GHEEBAH?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Assalāmu ῾alaykum wa Rahmatullāhi Wabarakātu

It is permissible to do acts of virtue and make intention of giving the reward to any person, living and dead. [1]

Accordingly, if one backbited a person and made Isale-Sawab in his favour to compensate for the wrong done to him, it is permissible and in fact praiseworthy. However, if the person who has been backbited heard of the backbiting, it is necessary to seek his forgiveness. It will not suffice to merely make Isale-Sawab for him.

And Allāh Ta῾āla Knows Best

Wassalāmu ῾alaykum

Jibran Kadarkhan

Student Dārul Iftā

Mauritius

Checked and Approved by:

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

[1]

References (Arabic / Urdu sources)

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سَلاَمٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَخْلَدُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ، أَخْبَرَنَا ابْنُ جُرَيْجٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنِي يَعْلَى، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ عِكْرِمَةَ، يَقُولُ: أَنْبَأَنَا ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ

رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا: أَنَّ سَعْدَ بْنَ عُبَادَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ تُوُفِّيَتْ أُمُّهُ وَهُوَ غَائِبٌ عَنْهَا، فَقَالَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ أُمِّي تُوُفِّيَتْ وَأَنَا غَائِبٌ عَنْهَا، أَيَنْفَعُهَا شَيْءٌ إِنْ تَصَدَّقْتُ بِهِ عَنْهَا؟ قَالَ: «نَعَمْ»، قَالَ: فَإِنِّي أُشْهِدُكَ أَنَّ حَائِطِيَ المِخْرَافَ صَدَقَةٌ عَلَيْهَا

صحيح البخاري (2756)

حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ أَيُّوبَ، وَقُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، وَعَلِيُّ بْنُ حُجْرٍ، قَالُوا: حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ وَهُوَ ابْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، عَنِ الْعَلَاءِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَجُلًا قَالَ لِلنَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: إِنَّ أَبِي مَاتَ وَتَرَكَ مَالًا، وَلَمْ يُوصِ، فَهَلْ يُكَفِّرُ عَنْهُ أَنْ أَتَصَدَّقَ عَنْهُ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ

صحيح مسلم (1639)

Answered by
Jibran Kadarkhan
Checked & approved by
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Questions about this ruling, answered only from the archive with sources.

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