Issue No. 1204- It is mustaḥab that a discerning child, who can distinguish between good and bad, be made to form the habit of praying regularly, and to perform other acts of worship. Rather, it is mustaḥab that he should also be encouraged to offer lapsed prayers. (Of course, this should not be done in a way that makes him or her upset or causes aversion to prayer).
Issue No. 1207- If the eldest son does not know whether or not his father or mother had any qaḍā prayers or fasts, he is under no obligation, and it is not necessary to investigate about it either.
Issue No. 1208- If the eldest son of a person dies before offering the qaḍā prayer and fasts of his parents, other sons would be under no obligation.
Issue No. 1209- If it cannot be identified which son is the eldest, i.e., the birth dates of the sons are not clear, it is not obligatory on any one of the sons to offer their parents' qaḍā prayers and fasts. However, the recommended precaution is that they divide their qaḍā prayer and fasts between themselves.
Issue No. 1210- The eldest son should act according to his duties while carrying out the qaḍā of the prayer and fasts of his parents. That is, he should observe the rules of prayer and fast according to the rules of the Mujtahid he follows.
Issue No. 1212- If the eldest son was not mature [1] or was insane at the time of his father or mother’s death, he should offer the qaḍā of the fasts and prayers of his father and mother when he becomes mature or gains sanity.
Issue No. 1213- To hire a person to offer qaḍā prayer and perform other acts of worship on behalf of a dead person is not free of objection, except for ḥajj. If a person wants to hire someone for other acts, he should give the money as a gift and the hired person should perform the act for free (not in return of the money). However, there is no problem in offering the qaḍā of missed prayer and fast and also offering recommended prayer and observing recommended fast with the intention of qurbah (seeking proximity to Allah, the Almighty) and without wages.
Issue No. 1214- One can be hired to offer some mustaḥab acts like Zīyārat of shrines of the holy Prophet and Imams (ṣ), on behalf of living persons, yet, the obligatory precaution is that the wages should be taken for preparatory procedures. He can also offer mustaḥab acts of worship and dedicate the reward of those acts to living or dead persons.
Issue No. 1218- The obligation of a dead person will be discharged if one who hires a person is certain that the hired person has offered the prayer, and if he doubts about it, it would not be sufficient. However, if he is sure that he has offered the prayer, but does not know whether or not he has performed it correctly, there would be no problem in it.
Issue No. 1219- One cannot rely on the word of the hired person if he says that he has offered the prayer unless he is a trustworthy person.
Issue No. 1215- A person who is hired to offer qadha prayers of a dead person, should know the rules of the prayers well and should be able to pronounce the words correctly.
Issue No. 1220- The hired person should be [as an obligatory precaution] one who is not excused in performing the parts and the conditions of prayer. For example, a person who offers prayer in a sitting posture cannot be appointed. The obligatory precaution is that even one who offers prayer with tayammum or jabīrah should not be hired.
