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Is the deceased father's spending on his daughter's education, she being a doctor, considered beneficial knowledge, and is it permissible for her to dedicate the reward of her work to him to alleviate the suffering of female patients and preserve their modesty, and does this apply to the Hadith: "When a person dies, all his deeds come to an end except for three: ...or beneficial knowledge..."?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

What your father did by spending on your education is a great reward, for spending on one's dependents is among the greatest acts of charity, and for this reason, it is given precedence over other forms of charity. The knowledge you have acquired brings benefit to Muslim women and allows for their treatment away from men, and this is of the greatest benefit. Great good and immense reward are hoped for your father for every person who benefits from your treatment, because he was the cause of it, and this does not diminish your reward in the slightest. For whoever guides to good receives a reward similar to that of its doer, and for actions that benefit others, one is rewarded even if the intention was not present. As for the hadith: "When a person dies, all his deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity, or knowledge from which others benefit, or a righteous child who prays for him," what is meant by it is the beneficial knowledge that a person teaches to others, and this includes beneficial worldly sciences such as medicine. Likewise, whoever contributes to the access, dissemination, and benefit of this knowledge is hoped to share in this reward.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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