Below is a link to a news article about "Sin-eaters", who were generally poor people paid to eat bread and drink beer or wine over a corpse, in the belief they would take on the sins of the deceased.
Attached to this post is the file "Explantion of the Qur'aan: Part 8" which contains the Tafseer of the verse:
[[Meaning: And no soul shall bear the burden of sin of another, and if a soul heavily laden with sin calls someone else to bear its sins, nothing of it will be lifted even though he be near of kin.]] [Sooratul-Faatir (35): Ayah 18]
May Allaah reward Aboo Talhah Daawood ibn Ronald Burbank. Aameen.
Aboo.Ibraaheem
19-09-2010 @ 8:29 PM
