What Is Dawr (Devir)? How Is It Performed? With Examples

When Is Dawr Performed?

Dawr (in Turkish devir) — the circulating-gift procedure — is performed when the prayer, fasting, zakat, vow, sacrifice and similar worship debts of the deceased are so many that one third of his estate does not suffice for them all, or when he has no wealth or money at all. If a third of the estate suffices for all the debts, no dawr is required; the fidyah payments are given directly to the poor.

The Definition of Dawr

Dawr is this: a certain sum of money or goods is borrowed; this money is given to a poor person as the fidyah of however many prayers it is equivalent to. After the poor person accepts it and takes possession of it, he gives it back as a gift (hibah) to the person conducting the dawr and delivers it to him. The conductor of the dawr, having accepted the poor person's gift and taken possession of it, gives it again — as fidyah for the isqat of the same number of prayers — to the same poor person or to another. The poor person again accepts and takes it, then gifts it back.

With each round, the number of prayers equivalent to the money or goods handed over is discharged, and the procedure is repeated until the whole of the prayer debts of the deceased is discharged. Once the count of the prayers is completed, dawr is then performed with the same money, in order:

Several rounds for the fidyah of the remaining fasting debts of the deceased,
Several rounds for the remaining zakat debts,
Several rounds for the remaining sacrifice (qurbani) debts,
Several rounds for the remaining vow (nadhr) debts,
Several rounds for the rights of the parents,
Several rounds for the rights of the children,
Several rounds for the rights of the spouse (husband and wife),
Several rounds for the rights of the neighbours,
Several rounds for the rights of animals,
And finally one round for "kullama wajaba wa ma farada alayhi" — that is, for whatever ever became wajib or fard upon him.

After the dawr is completed, a Fatihah is recited for the acceptance of the supplication and for the soul of the deceased; the borrowed money or goods are then returned and delivered to their owner (Maraqi al-Falah with al-Tahtawi, pp. 237-239; Ibn Abidin, pp. 686-687).

Precautionary expiations: After the dawr, as a precaution, one oath expiation (kaffarah) and one fasting expiation are distributed to the poor for the deceased. The oath expiation is ten fitrahs, and the fasting expiation is sixty fitrahs. As a precaution, giving more — even distributing ten oath expiations — is more excellent. Furthermore, the poor who sit for the dawr are given a suitable sum as charity, from the money circulated in the dawr or from the bequeathed property — or, failing that, by the heir or executor who has the dawr conducted; if the intention is made, this sum may be counted toward the oath and fasting expiations of the deceased.

How Is the Number of Dawr Rounds Calculated?

If the deceased declared in his will (wasiyyah) the quantity of his outstanding prayer debts, dawr is performed until that quantity of prayers is discharged. If he did not declare the quantity of his debts, or did not know it himself, then the childhood years (the years before legal responsibility) are deducted from his full lifespan, and all the remaining years are reckoned and circulated. As a precaution this is the more fitting course; for there is the possibility that he is indebted even for the prayers he did perform, through failure to observe their conditions or essential elements.

If the deceased was a man, twelve years are deducted as the years of childhood before responsibility; if a woman, nine years. All the remaining years are circulated.
In one day and one night there are six prayers whose performance is fard, counting the witr prayer; this makes one hundred and eighty prayers in a month.
The fidyah of each prayer is one fitrah: 520 dirhams (1666 grams) of wheat, or its value at the current rate at the time it is given.

Dawr According to the Money at Hand

The money available or borrowed for the dawr:

If it equals 180 fitrahs, the dawr is done one month at a time → the number of years is multiplied by 12.
If it equals 360 fitrahs, two months at a time → the number of years is multiplied by 6.
If it equals 540 fitrahs, three months at a time → the number of years is multiplied by 4.
If it equals 1080 fitrahs (six times as much), six months at a time → the number of years is multiplied by 2.
If it equals 2160 fitrahs (twelve times as much), one year at a time → dawr is performed as many times as the number of years.

The greater the sum of money, the shorter the dawr becomes in proportion. If money equivalent to the whole of two, three, five or ten years' prayers is available, it is permissible to give the fidyah of them all in a single payment at once.

The example in the source work: Suppose the deceased is a man of sixty. After the 12 years of childhood are deducted from his lifespan, 48 years of prayers remain. If the money at hand equals 180 fitrahs, the dawr is done one month at a time; since there are 12 months in a year, 48 × 12 = 576 rounds of dawr are performed. If the money suffices for two months, 48 × 6 = 288; for three months, 48 × 4 = 192; for six months, 48 × 2 = 96; and if it suffices for a whole year, 48 rounds of dawr are performed. If, while the dawr is being performed, one person moves a prayer bead at each round, it is easily known how many rounds have been done and when the count is complete.

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The Manner of Dawr (How It Is Carried Out)

After the goods or money to be circulated are made ready and wrapped in a cloth, the number of rounds to be performed is determined according to the age of the deceased and the amount of the money. One person is appointed to count with prayer beads so that the number may be followed. The heir who will conduct the dawr, or his deputy, takes possession of the goods or money to be circulated and begins the dawr as follows:

He says: "I have given this for the isqat of (for example) one month's prayers which Mehmed son of Ahmed — or Fatma daughter of Ahmed — was unable to perform; accept it."

The poor person says: "I have taken it and accepted it, and I have gifted it back to you," and returns it. In this manner the circulation continues until the prayer debt is entirely discharged. Then, in the same fashion, dawr is performed for the fasting, zakat, vow and sacrifice debts, and for the rights of parents, children, spouses, neighbours and animals; and last of all — with the name of the deceased and of his father mentioned — for the isqat of whatever debts remain of "kullama wajaba wa ma farada alayhi" (all that ever became wajib and fard upon him).

When the dawr is complete, a noble Fatihah — or more of the Qur'an — is recited for the soul of the deceased and for the acceptance of the supplications; Allah the Exalted is beseeched in prayer to accept it and to pardon the shortcomings of us all. There is no "great" or "small" dawr, no "full" or "half" dawr. Dawr is performed for deceased persons who were legally responsible: the same dawr is performed for one who was responsible for a single year as for one responsible for a hundred years; only the number of rounds differs.

Who May Sit for the Dawr?

There is no number fixed by the Sacred Law for the poor who sit for the dawr; dawr may be performed even with a single person. The following conditions are required of those who sit for the dawr:

He must be sane (aqil) — an insane person may not sit for the dawr; for the dawr involves gifting back the money received, and the gift of an insane person is not valid.
He must be of age (baligh) — a child not yet legally responsible may not sit for the dawr; the gift of a child is likewise not valid. (If one wishes to assist a poor and needy child or insane person, a suitable amount from the expiations is given to them without seating them for the dawr; if they are unable to manage money, it is given to their guardians to be spent on them.)
He must be poor (faqir) — one who possesses wealth to the amount of the nisab is rich in the eyes of the Sacred Law; it is not permissible or lawful for him to receive the obligatory charities. Since fidyah given to a rich person is not valid, the debt of the deceased is not discharged by it.
He must be upright (salih) — since it is not permissible to give the obligatory charities to the openly sinful (fasiq), and above all to those who would spend the money they receive on disobedience, the openly sinful are not seated for the dawr.

An important warning: People are for the most part heedless of this: many a rich person possessing the nisab, coveting the charity of the dawr, sits for it and corrupts the dawr; the money of the deceased is spent, yet his debts are not discharged. Furthermore, the ascendants and descendants (usul and furu') of the deceased — that is, his parents, grandfathers and grandmothers, his children and grandchildren — may not sit for the dawr even if they are poor and live separately, and they may not receive the obligatory charities, such as fidyah and kaffarah, of their own deceased.

In sum: there is no need to seek out a great number of people in order to perform dawr. Provided they are among the poor to whom the obligatory charities — zakat, fitrah, kaffarah and vows — may permissibly and validly be given, it is more excellent and more fitting to perform the dawr with one or a few poor persons.

Who Conducts the Dawr?

It is preferable that the heir, guardian or executor of the deceased conduct the dawr in person. If he cannot do so himself, he appoints a competent person as deputy and has him conduct it. It is not a condition that the conductor of the dawr be poor; for the conductor does not receive the fidyah — he gives it, and then accepts the poor person's gift. Being rich, or being an heir of the deceased, is no bar to giving the fidyah and accepting the gift.

The Rule Concerning Expiations

Of the prayer and fasting fidyahs, it is permissible to give the fidyah of many prayers and fasts to a single poor person at once. The same applies to outstanding zakat, sacrifices and vowed charities. But expiations (kaffarah) are not so: of the expiations, it is not permissible to give one poor person more than the amount of one fitrah in a single day. This applies to all expiations whose number is stated by explicit text (nass); for an oath expiation, ten poor persons must be found and each given an expiation worth one fitrah. In the expiations for fasting, homicide and zihar likewise, no more than one expiation may be given to one poor person in a single day. But if the expiations are of different kinds, it is permissible to give one of each kind to the same poor person.