Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 339
11 January 1906 339 and prayed. After this, a man asked a few questions that merit being included in this column. Question— What should be recited while standing at the grave? Answer— One should pray for the deceased that God Almighty forgives his faults and sins that he committed in this world and pray for the surviving family members of the deceased as well. Question— Which verse should be recited in this prayer? Answer— These are formalities. Pray for the deceased in your own language, which you know well and in which your emo- tion is cultivated. Question— Can charity, almsgiving, and recitation of the Holy Quran benefit the deceased? Answer— The s adaqah [charity] given on behalf of the deceased reaches the deceased, but it is not proven from the Holy Prophet s as and the Companions ra that the recitation of the Holy Quran on behalf of the deceased reaches the deceased. Instead, prayer should be made on behalf of the deceased. Giving charity and supplication on behalf of the deceased is proven by the practice of 124,000 Prophets, but the charity a person gives in his own life with his own hands is better because through it, a person sets a seal upon his faith. 1 1. Badr, vol. 2, no. 3, p. 6, dated 19 January 1906