Desire For The Aakhirat 24

Main Topic

Securing perpetual rewards (Sadaqah Jariyah) after death through righteous offspring, reviving the Sunnah, propagating Islamic knowledge, and establishing ongoing beneficial deeds.

Key Lessons

• Continuous rewards after death come from ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge passed on, left behind religious items/infrastructures, and pious children who pray for their parents.
• Raising pious children requires intentional effort, guidance, and exposure to pious company, rather than surrounding them with worldly distractions.
• Reviving a Sunnah within one's home or community earns the initiator the full reward of everyone who practices it without diminishing their individual rewards.
• The deceased in their graves are like drowning people, eagerly waiting for the spiritual relief brought by the duas and seeking of forgiveness from the living.
• An elevated status in Jannah can come unexpectedly to a believer due to the lingering supplications made by their offspring.

Quranic/Hadith References

• Hadith narrated by Jarir bin Abdullah (RA): The one who revives a good Sunnah receives its reward and the reward of those who act upon it thereafter.
• Hadith narrated by Abu Sa'id Khudri (RA): Teaching even a single verse of the Quran or one religious ruling (masla) increases a person's reward continuously until Qiyamah.
• Hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah (RA): Rewards that continue after death include propagated knowledge, a pious child, leaving behind a Quran, building a masjid or musafir khana, digging a canal, or planting a tree.
• Hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah (RA): Allah elevates a believer's status in Jannah due to their children seeking forgiveness for them.
• Hadith narrated by Ibn Abbas (RA): The deceased person in the grave is like a drowning person waiting for supplications from parents, children, or friends.

Practical Advice

• Invest time and care into the Islamic tarbiyat (upbringing) of children by taking them to pious gatherings and instilling Deeni values.
• Revive Sunnah habits in the household, such as sitting on the floor to eat.
• Teach at least one piece of Deeni knowledge or Quranic verse to family members.
• Take children to the graveyard (kabristan) so they learn how to visit and make dua for deceased relatives.
• Keep financial affairs and wills in order so families can focus on spiritual prayers rather than inheritance disputes after one's passing.