A man asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, "Messenger of Allah, my mother has died and left behind some jewelry. Should I give it away in charity on her behalf?"He asked, "Did your mother instruct you to do so?"The man replied, "No."He said, "Then keep your mother's jewelry."
سأل رجل رسول الله ﷺ فقال: يا رسول الله! إن أمي ماتت وتركت حليا، أفأتصدق به عنها، قال: أمك أمرتك بذلك؟ قال: لا، قال: فأمسك عليك حلي أمك.
Imam Ahmad narrated it (17437, 17356) from Ishaq bin Isa, Musa bin Dawud, and Abu Abdul-Rahman Muqri, all three from Ibn Lahia, from Yazid bin Abu Habib, from Abu Khayr, from Uqba bin Amir, who related it.Its isnad is hasan because of Ibn Lahia, since this narration comes through Abdullah bin Yazid Muqri's transmission from him.Imam Ahmad also narrated it (17438) through another route, from Rushdin, who said Amr bin Harith and Hasan bin Thawban narrated to me, from Yazid bin Abu Habib, from Abu Khayr, from Uqba bin Amir, relating the same account, except that this Rushdin is Rushdin bin Saad bin Muflih Mahri, who is considered daif by the majority of scholars.The meaning of the hadith is that perhaps the Prophet ﷺ, upon learning of the man's situation and that his mother had not instructed him to give it as charity, told him to keep his mother's jewelry.Regarding the jurisprudence of the hadith, Nawawi, in Majmu (293/5), reported the consensus of the Muslims that charity given on behalf of the deceased benefits him and reaches him.Ibn Hajar Haytami said in Tuhfat al-Muhtaj (72/7–73), "Charity given on behalf of the deceased benefits him, including endowing a copy of the Quran or other things, digging a well, and planting a tree."