Supplicating at a Grave with Raised Hands, and Arranging Isal al-Thawab for Oneself in One’s Lifetime as If Dead

Question

(1) What is [the ruling on] making du‘a at a grave — whether the grave of a righteous person or an ordinary grave — without raising the hands? As is the custom: “Recite the fatiha.” (2) Some people, while still alive, arrange for their own soul the third-day memorial gathering, the fortieth-day memorial rite, the death-anniversary commemoration, khatm of the Qur’an (a complete recitation of the Qur’an)

Answer

Isal al-thawab in itself, without binding oneself to a date, day, form and the like, is valid both for the living and for the dead. But the third-day memorial gathering, the fortieth-day memorial rite, the death-anniversary commemoration, the customary fatiha (ritual recitation of al-Fatiha)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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