Short answer
A great deal. Make dua for them, give charity on their behalf, pay their debts, carry out their will, settle their unfulfilled duties where you can, keep ties with their relatives and friends, and live a good life yourself. A righteous child who prays for a parent is one of three things that keep benefiting a person after death.
The reward of any good deed, such as charity, Quran, nafl prayer, Hajj or umrah, can be gifted to deceased parents. Their missed obligatory fasts and prayers are not made up by the child doing them; they are covered by fidya, from a third of the estate if the parent willed it, or by the child voluntarily.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- A relative may fast the parent's missed obligatory fasts in their place, the view Nawawi preferred, or pay fidya instead.
- Hanbali
- A relative may fast a parent's vowed fasts in their place; missed Ramadan fasts are covered by feeding the poor.
Explanation
Losing a parent can leave you feeling that the chance to honour them is over. It is not. Islam leaves many doors open, and some of them keep rewarding your parents for as long as you keep them open.
- Dua. Ask Allah to forgive them and have mercy on them, in your sujud and after your prayers; see dua for deceased parents.
- Charity. Give sadaqah in their name. A Companion asked whether charity would benefit his dead mother and was told yes. Sadaqah jariyah, such as a well or a share in a mosque, keeps giving; see sadaqah jariyah.
- Their debts. Make sure every debt is paid from the estate, and pay what remains yourself if you can; see paying the debts of the dead.
- Their will. Carry out a valid bequest faithfully.
- Duties to Allah. Perform Hajj on their behalf if they could not. For missed fasts and prayers, pay fidya; see the fidya calculator.
- Their people. Keep ties with their siblings, relatives and friends. The Prophet ﷺ called this among the finest kinds of goodness to a father.
- Your own life. The good deeds of a righteous child are, by Allah's grace, a continuing blessing for the parents who raised them.
If you feel you failed them while they were alive, turn that regret into tawbah and into these deeds. Allah is more merciful than we can imagine. For more, see rights of parents.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Israa 17:24
وَٱخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًۭا ﴿٢٤﴾
And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, "My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small."
Dua for parents continues after their death.
Sahih Muslim 1631
Sahih... إذا مات الإنسان انقطع عنه عمله إلا من ثلاثة ...
"When a person dies, his deeds end except for three."
One of the three is a righteous child who prays for him.
Sahih Muslim 2552
Sahih... إن أبر البر صلة الولد أهل ود أبيه ...
"The finest goodness is for a child to keep ties with the people his father loved."
Honouring a parent's friends is goodness to the parent after death.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1852
Sahih... حجي عنها أرأيت لو كان على أمك دين أكنت قاضية ...
"Perform Hajj for her. If your mother had owed a debt, would you not have paid it?"
A child may perform a parent's unfulfilled Hajj on their behalf.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Salah, Bab Salat al-Janazah, on gifting reward to the dead. Any good deed's reward can be given to the dead.
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on what obliges qada. Fidya for the dead person's missed fasts rather than fasting on their behalf.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Siyam. The Shafi'i view on a relative fasting for the dead.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.