Gift the Dead
Gift the Dead: Imam Jaffer Sadiq (a.s.) says that: “Three things help a man after his death, and these are: a charity given by him, a good habit he taught to others and a good offspring he leaves behind, who prays for his forgiveness”. (Al-Bihar Vol. 6 Page 294
Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S.) says that: “An act of charity given openly prevents seventy types of mishaps, and a secretly given charity cools the anger of our Lord Allah (swt)”. (Al-Bihar Vol 62 Page 269)
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W.) said: “Gift the dead”. When the companions asked what they should gift the dead with, the Prophet said: “With Charity and Prayers,” and continued to say that: “the souls of dead people descended every Friday on earth and begged their close ones with a forlorn voice: ‘O Mother, O Father, O Children, O Close ones to me, be kind to me even with a dirham, or a piece of bread or clothes, and Allah shall reward you.”
Then the Prophet S.A.W. cried bitterly and all the companions cried bitterly too such that the Prophet (S.A.W.) could not utter anything. Finally the Prophet said, “These were your brothers in faith and they now have turned to dust after enjoyment in this life and they regret bitterly and reproach themselves and wish that they had done good deeds so that they wouldn’t need you, and that is why you should help them in their desperate condition.”
Imam Jaffer Sadiq (A.S.) says that: “All the prayers, fasts, pilgrimage, charity, good acts and prayers reach the dead and help and reward them”.
The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) says that: “The dead man is like a person drowning who helplessly holds on to any help given to him by his father or brother or friend and he clings on to these and loves these acts more than the world itself, and the gifts for the dead are charity and praying for their forgiveness. (Bihar al-Anwar)
Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s.) says, Had people known what benefit learning gives, they would have run after it even if it required the blood of hearts and diving deep into oceans.
