How to Earn Rewards After Death

“When a man dies, all his good deeds come to an end except three: ongoing charity (sadaqah jariyah), beneficial knowledge or righteous son who will pray for him.”_Saheeh Muslim 1631

 

This world is temporary!

Every human being is going to die one day, and when we do, we become powerless to do any righteous deed or earn any reward except in the three instances mentioned in the above words of the Prophet (SAW).

In another narration from Bayhaqi and Ibn Majah, we have the following detailed hadith which goes thus:

"Verily, what reaches the believer of his good works and good acts after his death is the knowledge (benefitted from him) and righteous child which he has (left behind) or a book which he has given to inherit, or a place of worship which he has built or a canal which he has caused to be dug, or an act of charity which he has done out of his wealth while in his health and life."

From the foregoing, it is clear that we need to think about death and what we shall leave behind after our brief life on earth.

Only the living can earn a reward. But as shown in the above narration, a dead person can still accumulate good deeds, if he fulfills any of the three conditions already mentioned.

So let’s endeavour to learn useful knowledge and then teach it to others.

Let’s invest in charity that can outlive our existence.

And let’s train our children with the knowledge and practice of Islam.

However, we must understand that Allah, the Mighty and Sublime only accepts and rewards deeds done purely for His sake.

So we shouldn’t build a mosque with any desire of praise from the people, rather, we should do each and every good deed only for the pleasure and rewards from our Lord.

May Allah (SWT) grant us piety and the power to do good deeds that will continue to be of benefit to us long after we are no more. Aameen