who asked him: "My mother died and she owed a month of fasting; should I fast on her behalf?" He said: "Yes" (28). These are authentic hadiths, and they contain proof that the deceased benefits from all forms of piety (qurubat), because fasting, Hajj, supplication, and seeking forgiveness are bodily acts of worship, and Allah has caused their benefit to reach the deceased, and thus is the case for other acts, in addition to what we mentioned from the hadith regarding the reward of one who recites Surah Yasin, and Allah Almighty’s lightening the burden for the people of the graves through its recitation. Amr ibn Shu’ayb narrated from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said to Amr ibn al-Aas: "If your father were a Muslim, and you had emancipated a slave on his behalf, or given charity on his behalf, or performed Hajj on his behalf, that would have reached him" (29). This is general, covering both supererogatory Hajj and other acts, for it is an act of righteousness and obedience, so its benefit and reward reach him (30), like charity, fasting, and obligatory Hajj. Al-Shafi’i said: Everything other than the obligatory [acts], charity, supplication, and seeking forgiveness cannot be performed on behalf of the deceased, nor does its reward reach him; due to the saying of Allah Almighty: {And that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives} (31). And the saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "When the son of Adam dies, his deeds are severed, except from three: ongoing charity, knowledge from which benefit is derived after him, or a righteous child"