We have come to the end times, and God knows best about the number of people who passed away in this world before us, thousands upon thousands lived and died, the majority of them are not remembered today, however, there are a few among them that they are still remembered every day among us… they looked at what is beyond their personal agendas and fleeting pleasures leaving behind traces that are remembered after they are gone by hundreds, rather, thousands of years sometimes …
The Stances which shaped the traces
When a person is mentioned with good or bad, whether alive or dead, whether he died recently or long ago, certainly “what does this person do” or “what did he used to do”?
This is the question that is asked more than the question about his image, family, age, wealth, or beauty. Rather, the one who asks about some of those things might be quickly described as “superficial”
How old was Abū Bakr when he died? How much money did he have? What did he look like? How many children did he have? Most of us do not have a complete answer to these questions, even though all of us know about Abū Bakr, may Allāh raise his rank … What did we know about him then? We knew his actions and positions, we knew he stood as an advocate of the truth … We knew his belief and his faith in the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and his support for him … We knew of his protectiveness for the religion and what he did to make the word of Islam rise
Most of the eras mentioned by Muslims nowadays is the era of the Prophet ﷺ and his companions because that is the best century and within it resides the well-being of this nation… those companions that we still remember and mention how many of them were there? There is a disagreement about it, but some said they were around 114,000 because 70,000 were present at Tabouk and during the farewell pilgrimage there were 40,000 with him…… How many can you count now from the Companions? Stop for some moments and remember … Perhaps most of us do not exceed 100…100 above 100,000! Even though we have a great esteem and love for them and even though we know that their century with the Prophet ﷺ is the best century…Now, look at the names that you remember … why did these names remain in your mind instead of others…Abū Bakr, may Allāh raise his rank, why do you remember him? is it solely because he had money? Rather, it was because he supported the Prophet ﷺ with his money… and ^Umar’s strength is not the only reason we remember him amongst ourselves, rather, using his strength to support the religion…likewise the generosity of ^Uthmān and the knowledge of ^Aliyy and the trustworthiness of Abī ^Ubaydah and the support of Zubayr and plenty others. Allāh revealed what means
﴿ونكتب ما قدموا وآثارهم﴾
Al-Ghazali said in ‘Ihyā ^Uloom Ad-deen: the traces are defined as that which follows after the expiry of the deed and the doer.
All of them are gone, and their traces remain… and those traces are not castles turned into tourist attractions, nor museums that collect their fancy belongings… they are not titles inherited by their sons after them and they are not servants that are passed on to them by generations … Rather, those traces are the migration of Abū Bakr, may Allāh raise his rank, with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ , ^Umar’s confronting of the idol worshipers at the Ka^bah, and ^Uthmān equipping the army of Al-^Usrah , ^Aliyy’s defending the unity of this nation
And other than this among the stances that illuminate the history of those great men.
On the other hand and at the opposite end, you find people who are remembered today, after years of leaving this world, for the opposite of what those great men were remembered …how far away is what was left behind by Pharaoh, Nimrod, Abu Jahl, and Abu lahab from what was left behind by he who’s deeds were sincere for the sake of Allāh… a huge difference.. Pharaoh is dammed when he is mentioned…and we mention the verse in which Allāh dispraised Abu lahab… and as for the companions, it is asked of Allāh to raise their ranks when they are mentioned, and children are named after them in hopes that they would be like them
Those are the heroes who left their obvious imprint in history, they did not suffice with just loving goodness…they did not suffice with an intention to do good without acting on it…or wallowing in self-reproach over some falling short that occurred from them…or with dreams of a brilliant future for the nation…by wishing that circumstances would change without taking action to make that happen…how could it be? and they have heard and understood and worked according to the saying of the Prophet ﷺ that he said “the intelligent one is he who prepares himself and works for what is after death, and the impotent one is he who follows his desires and hopes from Allāh” …
The trace can be left with a word
You do not know the trace that you can leave behind due to a word you said or a deed you did…
Some elites of this nation, among those whom their benefit has blanketed the Muslims, were motivated by a word someone said to them…one word that was said in its place and so it led to a benefit that benefitted the entire nation…like Ash-shāfi^iyy, may Allāh raise his rank, he was out seeking the knowledge of grammar and literature…he said: I was met by Muslim the son of Khālid Az-zinjiyy and so he said, O lad, where are you from? I said: I am from the people of Makkah, he said: where is your house? I said: from the people of Khayf, he said: what tribe are you from? I said: from tribe of ^Abdu Manāf, so he said: bakh bakh, Allāh has honored you in this life and the afterlife, won’t you use your above average comprehension for Islamic Law and that would be better for you?!” and so that was among what motivated him to study Islamic Law, and so he became a symbol among the elites of this nation, to the extent that the Hadīth “a qurashiyy scholar will fill the earth with knowledge…” then Ash-shāfi^iyy showed the way to those who came after him to this goodness, until he left the trace which is obvious to the seer, his traces benefit the scholars and the students of knowledge, to the extent that the Imām Ahmad the son of Hanbal said: no one has picked up an inkwell or a pen except that they owe a debt of gratitude to Ash-shāfi^iyy…”
And this Al-Bukhariyy may Allāh raise his rank…his memory has been shining among the muslims since his time…the one who authored the most authentic authoring in the collection of the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ …one word from the Imam Isaac the son of Rāhawayhi and so he said: if you could gather a summarized book for the confirmed authentic Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and he said: and so that entered into my heart and so I began to gather the authentic collection…and so Al-Bukhāriyy spent 16 years collecting his authentic collection, leaving behind a legacy that no person who has read though his collection can deny, and the word of Isaac the son of Rāhawayhi was a cause in that.
Yes…you do not know to what extent your word has an effect, therefore don’t be restrain yourself from that, and do not leave pointing towards goodness as long as you are able…and the Prophet ﷺ has said: “The one who points to goodness has a similar reward to its doer” and he said: “Do not downplay any act of goodness”…therefore, if you worked according to these two prophetic sayings with a sincere intention you will find it as a reward waiting for you on Judgment Day, God willing…
What matters is not about age or the number of years…
There are those among the companions who only lived for 30 or 40 years but he left a vast trace in Islam and he achieved in a little amount of years a lot and a lot, Mus^ab the son of ^Umayr, may Allāh raise his rank, died as a young man, however he is the one who spread the call to Islam prior to the migration of the Prophet to Madinah…and he has left behind an undeniable legacy in the history of Islam…and Sa^d the son of mu^ādh lived in Islam for only seven years, however when he died, the throne of Allāh shook when he died…Abū Bakr, may Allāh raise his rank, was the Caliph of the Muslims for three years only, he had a prominent role in protecting the Muslims and their congregation after the calamity that befell them by the death of the Prophet ﷺ and the apostasy of some arabs after it and some Muslims refusing to pay the Zakāh…
And among the imams of Islam, there are those who did not go past 60 years of age, however he left behind dozens of important books and hundreds of prominent students and knowledge inherited after them up until our days, like the Imam Ash-shāfi^iyy and the Imam Al-Ghazāliyy, and this An-nawawiyy may Allāh have mercy upon him, the one who is prominently mentioned among the Shāfi^iyys, he died before he reached 50 years…
Except from three
The Prophet ﷺ said: “When the human dies his deeds stop except for three: except from a continuous charity, a knowledge that is benefitted from, or a pious offspring making supplication for him…
As for the continuous charity, the scholars explained it as the Waqf, therefore whoever makes a land Waqf, for example, so the poor muslims benefit from it, for example, that person would get the reward of that after his death…and Waqf lands have not ceased to exist in our days for hundreds of years and the one who made the Waqf still gets the reward while they are in their graves they have the blessings of their good deeds and their Waqf of those lands…likewise the knowledge that gives a benefit after that doer of the deed has died, and so you would see him being remembered by the tongues and he would be supplicated for more than some people who are alive…and that is due to the abundant goodness that was done by his hand and that the people have benefitted from after him through the ability to do the good deed that was created in him by God…therefore who among us knows who the biggest merchant was during the time of the four imams or during the time of Al-Bukhāriyy or Muslim or Al-Ash^ariyy and Al-Māturīdiyy? Or who the richest person was? Or the strongest man? Or the most beautiful woman? Or who had the biggest house? All of those people did not leave behind a trace like the trace that was left behind by the elite people of knowledge, may Allāh reward them greatly for the benefit that they have spread throughout the nation…
As for the pious offspring, he would be a reason for his family to get reward after they pass away, he would mention them in supplication and give charity and other than that, Al-Bukhāriyy has narrated in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad from the route of Abū Hurayrah, may Allāh raise his rank, that he said: “the deceased’s rank would be raised after his death and he would say O my Lord what is this thing? And it would be said to him: your offspring asked forgiveness for you…”
An-nawawiyy said: the scholars said that the meaning of the prophetic saying that the deceased’s deeds are cut off after his death and the residual reward would cease for him except in these three things; because he was the cause for them because the offspring is from his acquisition and likewise the knowledge that he left behind like teaching and authoring, and likewise the continuous reward which is referring here to the Waqf, It contains a proof for the basis of the validity of the Waqf and its great reward and it contains a clarification of the merit of the knowledge and the encouragement to maximize from the knowledge and it contains an incentivizing of passing on the knowledge by teaching and authoring and explaining, and that he should choose from the knowledge the most beneficial and then the most beneficial after that and it contains that the supplication’s reward reaches the deceased and likewise the charity, these two matters are by unanimous agreement.
What a great status and what a high status and what a beautiful merit for the person to be occupied during his life with some of his jobs or in his grave and his book of good deeds would be increased and filled with good deeds, and the good deeds would reach him…that is the merit that Allāh grants and bestows to whomever He willed and Allāh is the owner of the grand Fadl
And there are other matters that the prophetic sayings have proved that its trace remains after the death of his doer, because it is narrated from the route of Jābir the son of ^Abdullāh, may Allāh raise both their ranks, that he said: the Prophet ﷺ entered upon Umm Ma^bad’s garden and said O Umm Ma^bad, who planted this palm tree? Was it a Muslim or a non-muslim?, so she said: “rather, a Muslim” and so he said: no Muslim plants a plant and therefore a human eats from it nor a beast nor fowl except that it is reward for him on Judgment Day” narrated by Muslim. An-nawawiyy said when he explained this prophetic saying and the prophetic sayings that are synonymous with this one: “In these prophetic sayings, the merit of the planting and the merit of farming are confirmed and that the reward of the doer of that is residual as long as the plant and what was planted exists and whatever results from it until judgment day.”
The Good innovation
The Prophet ﷺ said:”whoever innovates a good innovation in Islam has its reward and a reward similar to the reward of whoever follows him in it without any of their rewards decreasing, and whoever innovates a bad innovation in Islam has its sin and a sin similar to the sin of whoever follows him in it without any of their sin decreasing.” Narrated by Muslim.
Certainly, among the traces that remain after the death of a person are the good innovations that he innovated in his life and that people follow him in it after him. Indeed, there are people that innovate something without a prior example , however, that thing would be in compliance with the rules of the religion and in line with the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ and so the people and him would go according to it after him, therefore, he would have a reward similar to the one who implements it after him and it won’t decrease any of his reward just as the Prophet ﷺ informed…and this has many examples, and so the people congregating behind one reciter during the Tarāwīh is truly a good innovation that was innovated by ^Umar, may Allāh raise his rank, it did not exist during the time of the Prophet ﷺ nor during the time of Abū Bakr, may Allāh raise his rank. The beginning of this matter occurred during the time of ^Umar. Al-Bukhāriyy narrated in his authentic book from the route of ^Abdur-rahmān the son of ^Abdul Qāri’ that he said: I went out with ^Umar the son of Al-Khattāb, may Allāh raise his rank, one night during Ramadān to the mosque and the people were spread about in groups, one man would pray by himself and another one would be praying and there would some people praying behind him, and so ^Umar said: “I think if all of those congregated behind one reciter it would be more ideal,” and the he had the firm conviction about it and he gathered them behind Ubayy the son of Ka^b, and then I went out with him on another night and the people are praying behind their reciter, and ^Umar said: what a good innovation this is…and until this day the Muslims are implementing that…
However the person should beware, because not all the innovations are good innovations, rather, some of them are bad just as the prophetic saying proves “and whoever innovates a bad innovation in Islam”…the majority of innovations are not in compliance with the religion, and that is what is meant by the prophetic saying “most innovations are misguided”…and the way to know if the innovations are good or bad is to weight them upon the rules of the religion, therefore, if it was in compliance with what the rules of the religion came with and what the religion encouraged then it is an innovation that is, without a doubt, good, and if it was against that, then it is a bad innovation, and the Prophet ﷺ has clarified that in his saying that Lady ^Ā’ishah, may Allāh raise her rank narrated: “Whoever innovates in this matter of ours, that which is not in compliance with it, then it is rejected.” Narrated by Muslim. What is rejected is what goes against the religion and what is in compliance with it is not rejected.