What duas can I make for someone who has died?

Your love for them still has somewhere to go. The Qur'an gives the first words for loss: "we belong to God, and to him we shall return" [Qur'an 2:156], and the Prophet ﷺ prayed for the dead: "O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, keep him safe, and pardon him" (Muslim 963). He also taught that when a person dies, their deeds end except three: ongoing charity, knowledge that benefits, or a righteous child who prays for them (Muslim 1631). That door stays open: your dua and your sadaqah in their name still reach them.

📖 Source: Qur'an 2:156; Muslim 963, 1631

How to

1. Make the Prophet's ﷺ dua for them: "O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, keep him safe, and pardon him."
2. Ask God's forgiveness for them by name, after your prayers and whenever they come to mind.
3. Give sadaqah in their name: water, food, or anything whose good keeps flowing.
4. Keep the ties they kept: visit their friends, check on the people they loved.
5. When grief rises, return to the words "we belong to God, and to him we shall return" (Qur'an 2:156).

Related questions

• What duas help with grief and loss?
• What dua is said at the moment of death?

Related reading

• Qur’an 2:156
• Qur’an 59:10
• Qur’an 14:41
• Qur’an verses about death