I will perform ‘Umrah for the sixth time soon Inshaa’ Allaah. I intend to dedicate its reward to a close friend's mother-in-law, who recently died. The question is: will I be rewarded after dedicating the reward to the deceased? Is it permissible to dedicate the reward of ‘Umrah to more than one deceased person?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Most of the scholars are of the view that the deceased benefits from the reward of righteous deeds which are dedicated to him. This includes the reward of ‘Umrah. Consequently, it is permissible for you to perform ‘Umrah on behalf of that woman. Undoubtedly, you are rewarded due to your kindness and dutifulness to that woman. As for the reward of ‘Umrah, it will be dedicated to her.

As for your question about dedicating the reward of ‘Umrah to more than a deceased, if you mean that you perform ‘Umrah and utter Talbiyah on behalf of more than one deceased person, this is not a part of the Sunnah and none of the scholars adopted that view. That is because ‘Umrah is only one ritual and it is sufficient only for the doer himself or the one on whose behalf it is done. Meanwhile, the scholars stated that assuming Ihraam on behalf of more than one person is impermissible.

An-Nawawi said:

Our companions (the Shaafi‘i scholars) said: if two men hired a third one to perform Hajj on their behalf and he assumed Ihraam on their behalf, his Ihraam will be voluntarily counted for himself and it will not be counted for anyone of them. That is because Ihraam is not sufficient for two persons and none of them is worthier than the other. If he assumed Ihraam on behalf of one of them as well as on his own behalf, his Ihraam will be counted for himself only because Ihraam is not sufficient for two persons. He is worthier than others and therefore it is enough for him only.

Given that, you should adhere to the Sharee‘ah rulings and perform ‘Umrah on your own behalf, and this is better, or on behalf of a certain person.

But if you mean by dedicating the reward that you perform ‘Umrah on your own behalf and then dedicate the reward to a deceased or more, some of the scholars permit this.