Isal al-thawab with the sacrificial meat and the customary fatiha

Question

In India some people have the custom that, in order to make isal al-thawab (conveying reward), i.e. fatiha, for the souls of the dead, they do not have fatiha for the dead performed with the meat of the sacrifice; rather they say that the person in whose name the sacrifice is made will receive the reward of this meat. Therefore they have separate meat brought and, after cooking it, have fatiha performed for the dead. Is this ignorant custom of India a bid‘a (innovation in religion) that must be abandoned, or not?

Answer

This belief and notion of the common people is wrong and false. The one who made the sacrifice has received the reward of the sacrifice itself; the reward for giving the meat for the sake of Allah is a separate one, and it is not diminished on account of the sacrifice. Having fatiha recited in the customary manner, i.e.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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