Death ends everything. Your ability to pray. To fast. To give charity. To do good. The moment your soul leaves your body, your chance to earn rewards is over.
Except for three things.
The Hadith That Changes Everything About Death
Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه reported in Sahih Muslim (1631): The Prophet ﷺ said:
“When a person dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: Sadaqah Jariyah (ongoing charity), knowledge from which benefit is gained, or a righteous child who prays for him.”
Read that again. Except for three.
Everything else stops. Your account is frozen. You can’t add a single good deed. You’re helpless in your grave, facing the consequences of what you sent ahead.
But these three? They keep going. Like a river that never stops flowing. Like a tree that keeps giving fruit. Like an investment that pays returns forever.
1. Sadaqah Jariyah – The Charity That Never Stops
Sadaqah Jariyah means ongoing charity. Something you give once that benefits people continuously.
A well you build in a village without water—every person who drinks from it, you earn reward. For decades. For centuries. Even after you’re long gone.
A mosque you help construct—every person who prays in it, you earn reward. Five times a day. For years. Generations of Muslims earning you hasanat.
A Quran you donate to a masjid—every person who reads from it, you earn reward. Every letter recited. Every verse memorized. All credited to you.
A tree you plant—every creature that eats its fruit or sits in its shade, you earn reward. The Prophet ﷺ said in Sahih al-Bukhari (2320):
“There is none amongst the Muslims who plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, but it is regarded as a charitable gift for him.”
You’re in your grave. You can’t move. Can’t speak. Can’t pray. But that tree you planted 20 years ago? Still earning you reward.
That’s Sadaqah Jariyah. The gift that keeps giving—to others and to you.
2. Beneficial Knowledge – The Gift That Multiplies
You teach someone how to pray properly. They pray for 40 years. You get reward for every single prayer they offer. Without your reward decreasing at all.
You teach someone a verse of Quran. They recite it daily. You get reward every time they recite it. For the rest of their life. And if they teach it to someone else? You get reward for that too.
You write beneficial Islamic content online. Someone reads it 10 years after you die. Changes their life. Returns to Allah ﷻ. You get reward—from your grave—for helping guide them.
The scholars mention: This includes teaching, writing, making educational content, guiding someone to good, sharing knowledge that helps people in their Deen or their worldly affairs.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward like the rewards of those who follow him, without that detracting from their rewards in the least.” (Sahih Muslim 2674)
You guide one person. They guide five people. Those five guide 25 people. Your reward keeps multiplying like a pyramid of goodness you started—and you’re sleeping in your grave, reaping the rewards.
3. A Righteous Child Who Prays for You
You raise your child with Islam. You teach them Quran. You model good character. You pray with them. You instill taqwa in their heart.
They grow up righteous. And when you die, they stand by your grave and make du’a: “O Allah ﷻ, forgive my father. O Allah ﷻ, have mercy on my mother. O Allah ﷻ, grant them Paradise.”
And Allah ﷻ accepts their du’a. And your ranks rise in Paradise while you’re already there.
The Prophet ﷺ said in Sunan Ibn Majah (3660): “A man’s status will be raised in Paradise and he will ask, ‘How did I get here?’ He will be told, ‘By your son’s prayers for forgiveness for you.'”
Your child keeps praying for you. For decades after you die. Every Friday. Every night. During Tahajjud. On Laylatul Qadr. And you keep rising in ranks.
That’s the return on investment for raising righteous children.
More Types of Ongoing Charity
The scholars have compiled from various authentic hadith that Sadaqah Jariyah includes:
Building or contributing to a mosque – Every prayer, every class, every Quran recited there—you earn reward.
Digging a well or providing clean water – In some Muslim countries, people still drink from wells built centuries ago. Imagine the reward.
Building schools or Islamic centers – Every student who learns, every person who benefits—you earn.
Writing or publishing Islamic books – Every reader who benefits, every person guided—you earn.
Teaching someone Quran – Every time they recite it, every time they teach it to others—you earn.
Supporting orphans and building orphanages – Every child helped, every life changed—you earn.
Planting trees and gardens – Every creature that benefits, every shade given—you earn.
Any charitable endowment (Waqf) that continues benefiting people—you earn from it forever.
The Math is Staggering
Let’s say you build one water well in a poor village. 200 people use it daily. That’s 200 rewards per day. That’s 73,000 rewards per year. If that well lasts 50 years after you die, that’s 3,650,000 rewards. From one well.
You teach one person how to pray properly. They pray five times a day for 40 years. That’s 73,000 prayers. You earn reward for helping enable each one.
You plant one tree. Birds eat from it. Animals rest under it. People enjoy its shade. Insects live in it. For 100 years. The rewards? Uncountable.
And all this is happening while you’re in your grave. Unable to do a single good deed yourself. But your past deeds are working for you like an investment portfolio that never crashes.
Start Building Your Sadaqah Jariyah Today
You don’t need to be rich. You don’t need to build entire mosques. Start small:
Plant a tree today. In your yard. In your neighborhood. Anywhere. One tree = decades of reward.
Teach someone one thing from Islam. How to make wudu properly. A du’a. A verse of Quran. One thing = lifetime of reward.
Share beneficial knowledge online. Write. Post. Share authentic Islamic content that helps people. One post = years of potential reward.
Support a charitable project – even with small amounts. Donate to a mosque project. Contribute to a well. Fund Quran printing. Whatever you can afford.
Raise your children with Islam. Teach them to pray. Read Quran with them. Model good character. This is your long-term investment.
Leave written advice for your family about Deen. Your children will read it after you die and benefit from it—earning you reward.
The key is intention. Do these things not just for worldly benefit but with the intention that they become Sadaqah Jariyah for you after you die.
The Urgency
You don’t know when you’ll die. Tomorrow? Next week? Next year? Whenever it is, the moment your soul leaves, your ability to earn reward stops forever.
Except for these three.
So if you haven’t started building your Sadaqah Jariyah yet—start today. Right now. This moment.
Because one day—sooner than you think—you’ll be in your grave. And the only things benefiting you will be what you sent ahead.
Will it be enough? Or will you wish you had planted one more tree, taught one more person, built one more well, raised your children better?
Your Legacy After Death
People will forget you. Your name will fade. Your wealth will be distributed. Your house will have new occupants. Your car will be driven by someone else. Everything worldly about you will disappear.
But that well you built? Still giving water.
That knowledge you taught? Still spreading.
That child you raised? Still making du’a for you.
That tree you planted? Still giving shade.
That mosque you helped build? Still hosting prayers.
That’s your legacy. That’s what remains. That’s what saves you.
The Prophet ﷺ described it perfectly: When your deeds end, these three don’t. They become your companions in the grave. Your defenders on Judgment Day. Your weight on the scale of good deeds.
So build them now. Invest in them wisely. And on the Day you stand before Allah ﷻ, you’ll see mountains of rewards you didn’t even remember earning—all coming from the Sadaqah Jariyah you set in motion decades ago.
The fountain that never stops flowing. The tree that never stops giving. The investment that never stops paying. That’s Sadaqah Jariyah. Start yours today.
Disclaimer: This article presents authentic hadith from Sahih collections about ongoing charity and deeds that continue after death. Readers are advised to consult qualified Islamic scholars for detailed guidance on specific charitable projects. The content reflects classical and contemporary Islamic scholarship and should not replace personal consultation with knowledgeable religious authorities.