How do good deeds continue after we die?
The Three Ways Deeds Continue After Death: A Hadith on Legacy and Righteous Children
Summary
Sh. Ali Mashhour discusses a hadith from Sahih Muslim about the three ways a person's deeds continue after death: through ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, and righteous children who make dua. He emphasizes that life is a precious blessing and that when a person dies, all their deeds cease except through these three means. Sh. Ali Mashhour contrasts the Islamic perspective on suffering and life with secular approaches, explaining that human pain has spiritual value and reward in the hereafter, unlike animal suffering. He also clarifies that children reward their parents for every good deed they perform, even without intention, because children are extensions of their parents' choices and actions.
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Alhamdulillah.
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For.
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Imuslim. He relates to us here a narration which is found originally in Muslim on the authority of Abi in which the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam identifies the only three ways a person's rewards or a person's actions or deeds will continue on after his death. So the prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam tells us here if the if the human being dies or when the human being dies all of his deeds come to a screeching halt and this is why we are never to ask for death why it is such a huge and major sin in Islam for a person to end his own life you only get one shot in all of eternity. This is your one shot right here. And so bringing that to an end before Allah has found found it fit to be brought to an end is throwing away the essence of your soul. It's throwing away your salvation. A person's salvation can be had in a moment. It is conceivable that a person may live a bad life and it turn around at the very last moment. It's also conceivable, conversely, that a person may live a good life and due to an illness in the heart that was left undiagnosed, left un medicated that the person may live a good life and follow that up with a moment's fumbling at the end. However, the point is is that if you die, your deeds are done. There's nothing else that can happen to bring you back or extend your deeds. A person in his grave, if he were to collect all of his thoughts, concentration, and power to move his lips to sayahill, he will not be able to. Whatever he did, whatever he didn't do, it is sealed. At that point, the prophet sallall.aii wasallam prohibits us from asking for death. He said,.
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He says, "Let none of you ask for death before it comes to him because your deeds come to an end when you die." And so the point here is that life is a blessing if a person knows what to do with it. Life is a blessing if a person knows what to do with it. And very quickly on this point, this shows the completely different outlook of Islam, the Quran, the Muslim from the non-Muslim with respect to pain. Pain. You go into the hospital, you see patients that are, you know, laying on beds. They have no hope of recovery, but they're in pain. So, you're urged what? To essentially euthanize them because they're in pain. They're in pain. Kind of an animal. You know, if you're driving down the road and you hit a, you know, a deer or something. What do we have here? And you hit a coyote. Okay. Or you hit a a dagone.
[Arabic recitation]
The sucker's still living, but it's all busted up and it's in pain. What would the humane thing to do be? Even what the companions, the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam would do, kill it, right? He you he grabbed dad's 45 or whatever it is and finish it off. It's in pain and it's not being rewarded in the hereafter for this pain. What about a human being? You're driving down the road. You hit a human. It's all he's all busted up. She's all busted up. Do you put it out of its pain? Absolutely not. This is a human being. A human being is being rewarded every conscious moment of his or her life. As a matter of fact, a human being is potentially being report being rewarded even in his every unconscious moment of his life. And as we'll hear in this narration, even after his death, the human being is potentially being rewarded. And so Allah the prophet sallall.aii wasallam says if the human being dies his deeds come to an end except by three things except in three ways. The first is a charity that continues after his death. This is what's referred to as meaning a continuous charity. charity that continues to function after his death or continues to be of consequence after the person's death. The second or knowledge that is continued to be benefit of benefit of consequence implemented after his death. Number three, or a righteous child that will make dua for him. Does a child have to a child meaning any son or daughter does that person have to make specific dua for his parents for his parent to be rewarded for his good deeds? No. Every single one of our parents, every one of us, every one of us that just made salah right now, our parents were rewarded for our salah and their parents for their salah. Even if you didn't intend it. Why? Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,.
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And so every single good deed that we do, our parents are rewarded for it. Why? Because they are the one little kids. Hey, this is and so we see that every single child, every single child of a parent, every human being when he does a good deed, his parent is rewarded for it. Even if he didn't intend for his parent to be rewarded. Why? Because you are a consequence of the choices of your parents. You're an extension. I'm an extension of my parents choices, of my parents' actions. Person may say, "Well, my parents didn't necessarily tell me to do good." Yes, but you are a result of their physical choices and so they are rewarded because you are an extension of your parents and they an extension of theirs. And this is a beautiful thing, a beautiful aspect of our religion. Allah is trying to give us every single opportunity he can to get us into paradise. He doesn't want to see us go to hell. He gives us eight gates of paradise. He gives us 10 times the reward for one good deed. He gives us to give us every single chance we can to get into paradise. If we still manage to find ourselves in hell after all of that, well, maybe that person really deserved to be there cuz they have to really go out of their way to go to hell. And Subhan Allah.