This question just popped up in my head..
are the prayers that the relatives/friends do for the person who died actually work?.. i mean when we say.. May Allah grant him/her jannat firdaus , or may Allah forgive all of his/her sins and save him/her from His fire?..
Do these prayers work?.. i mean after all, its that death one who has to answer Allah for his deeds.. regardless of all the prayers?..no? then why these prayers?
Re: prayers after someone's death.
There is a period between death and day of judgement that is called barzakh. Any deeds such as recitation of quran recited for you, or qadha salah/fasts/hajj someone does in your name will be accepted, and any charity you started in your lifetime that continues to benefit someone after your death, you will continue to reap rewards from it as sadaqa jariya. Your final deeds are not judged until Qiyama.
Re: prayers after someone’s death.
i thought you go to your grave and wake up on the day of judgement mooli
i never saw where the whole barzakh phase fit in
ps: hello 
Re: prayers after someone's death.
hey ravage. :)
well you do, but your naik or bad amaal can increase, depending on what you leave behind. They are your sadaqa jaariya.
Thats why its recomended to read sura yaseen for the sawaab of marhumeens every Thursday.
Re: prayers after someone's death.
but what does burzakh mean then, is that just a name for describing someone between death and qayamat, or is it a physical place?
cause I read some stories in a book growing up of someone going into burzakh and seeing various kinds of bad stuff happening to different people such as Cain (whatever his urdu name is... i seem to have forgotten :( )
Re: prayers after someone's death.
I think when folks say the souls are in barzakh, they mean the soul is in a state of barzakh. But then, wadi us salam in najaf, the valley of peace, is said to be where the good souls are maintained... so who knows, it might have a physical place afterall.