Answer

Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

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In this fatwa:

You should offer sacrifice or udhiyah on behalf of deceased parents if they have made will to that effect. Otherwise, it is better to give charity on their behalf rather than offering a sacrifice.

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Answering your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

You should offer sacrifice or udhiyah on behalf of deceased parents if they have made will to that effect. Otherwise, it is better to give charity on their behalf rather than offering a sacrifice.

I am not saying you are not allowed to offer sacrifice; you may do it; however, charity if preferable. When asked about the good deeds one can do on behalf of one’s parents, the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned charity and not sacrifice; it is for this reason that we find the pious predecessors were in the habit of opting for that instead of sacrifice.

Allah Almighty knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.