"At twilight," the Moon greeted after saying salaam. "I watched two penguins, on top of a rock, talking. When I was listening, one of them said, 'My brother, do you know that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), once said,
يَتْبَعُ الْمَيِّتَ ثَلَاثَةٌ فَيَرْجِعُ اثْنَانِ وَيَبْقَى وَاحِدٌ يَتْبَعُهُ أَهْلُهُ وَمَالُهُ وَعَمَلُهُ فَيَرْجِعُ أَهْلُهُ وَمَالُهُ وَيَبْقَى عَمَلُهُ
'Three things follow a deceased person. Two of them return and one remains. His family, his wealth, and his deeds follow him. His family and wealth return, but his deeds remain." [Muttafaqun Alayhi (authenticity agreed upon) according to Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
In another report, our beloved Prophet (ﷺ) said, 'There is no person except that he has three companions. The first companion says, 'Whatever you spend is for you, and whatever you withhold is not for you’, and this is his wealth. The second says, ‘I am with you, but when you come to the door of the King (Allah), I will return and leave you’, and this is his family and nobility. The third says,‘1am with you wherever you enter, and wherever you go’, and this is his deeds.The person will say, ‘You were the one I gave the least consideration to from these three.' [HR Al-Hakim in his al-Mustadrak. Al-Hakim declared it sahlh and adh-DhahabI agreed with him]
The second penguin, asked, 'Tell me, more!' The first penguin continued, 'An explanation of this, is that, it is upon the son of Adam, to have a family that he lives with, and wealth that he supports himself with, and these two companions will leave him, and he will leave them.The inteligent person is the one who takes from these things enough to help him remember Allah, and what benefits him in the nextlife. So a person takes from wealth what helps him in reaching the next life, and takes a righteous wife to assist him in his faith.
As for the person who has taken his wealth and family that distracts him from Allah, then he will be a loser.
Al-Hakim in his al-Mustadrak recorded a hadith, 'O son of Adam, live as you want, for you will die. Love who you want, for you will leave him. Do what you want, for you will meet your actions. And be however you wish. And as you do, you will be recompensed.' [Sahih according to Al-Hakim and adh-Dhahabi]
Once the son of Adam dies and leaves this world, he will not benefit from his family and wealth at all, except for the supplication of his family and their asking forgiveness for him; and for the wealth that he sent forth in Allah’s cause (in charity).
If however, he left behind a family member who would pray for him, or some charity that he sent forth, then he will benefit from that. Our Beloved (ﷺ) said,
إِذَا مَاتَ الْإِنْسَانُ انْقَطَعَ عَنْهُ عَمَلُهُ إِلَّا مِنْ ثَلَاثَةٍ إِلَّا مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ جَارِيَةٍ أَوْ عِلْمٍ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ أَوْ وَلَدٍ صَالِحٍ يَدْعُو لَهُ
'When the human being dies, his deeds end except for three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for him.' [Sahih Muslim]
A person’s family will not benefit the deceased after one’s death, except for a family member that asks forgiveness for deceased and supplicates for him, but they might not do so in reality. For sometimes, someone who is not related to the dead person, might be more beneficial for him than one’s own family, as some of the righteous have said, 'and who is like the righteous companion? While your family is busy dividing your inheritance, he sits alone in his sadness, supplicating for you while you are under the earth.'
Rather, some families are an enemy to the dead person, and some of them are distracted from the dead person being busy taking from one’s inheritance, as was said in some lines of poetry,
My relatives pass by my grave, as if they do not know me!
And those who receive my inheritance divide my wealth,
And they even dispute my debts
They take their shares and go on with life,
O Allah, how fast they forget me!
As for the second companion of a dead person, it is one’s wealth. It returns first and does not enter the grave. it will not accompany one in the grave, nor enter it with him. So, a person will not benefit at all from one’s wealth, except for that which he spent in a good cause, for he will find it later on and it will be included amongst the deeds that will accompany him in his grave. As for the wealth that a person leaves for his heirs, then in reality, it does not stay with him, and he was only temporarily holding that wealth for his heirs.
Our beloved (ﷺ) said,
يَقُولُ ابْنُ آدَمَ مَالِي مَالِي - قَالَ - وَهَلْ لَكَ يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ مِنْ مَالِكَ إِلاَّ مَا أَكَلْتَ فَأَفْنَيْتَ أَوْ لَبِسْتَ فَأَبْلَيْتَ أَوْ تَصَدَّقْتَ فَأَمْضَيْتَ
'The son of Adam claims, 'My wealth, my wealth.' And he (ﷺ) said, 'O son of Adam, is there anything as your belonging except that which you consumed, which you utilised, or which you wore and then it was worn out or you gave as charity and sent it forward?' [Sahih Muslim]
So a person does not benefit from his wealth, except from what he puts forward for himself, and spends in the path of Allah. As for what he eats and wears, it is neither for him nor against him, unless he had a righteous intention. It was also said that he is rewarded for what he spends on food and clothing in all cases.
As for a person that spends money for sins, then this is against him and does not benefit him. Likewise for what he stingily kept and did not give the right of Allah regarding it. For this person, it will come in the form of a terrifying poisonous snake. It will follow him while he flees from it until it bites him. It will say, 'I am your wealth, I am your treasure!' He will put his hand out and it will bite it as a horse bites.
If the treasure is gold or silver, it will be made into plates, then heated up, and he will be branded by it on his brow, forehead, and side.
A poetry states,
Do not store except taqwa,
for wealth cannot be stored,
Obey the order of our Rabb,
be on the straight path,
and take heed and consideration
So, whoever realises this, let him put forward of his wealth that which he loves. For if he puts it forward, it will be for him and he will benefit from it in the next life. If he leaves his wealth behind, it will be for someone else, not for him. A man could be stingy in spending his wealth in the path of Allah, so he will see that wealth on the Day of Judgement in the scale of another person who spent it as charity. At that time, he will have great sorrow and regret, for this same wealth that entered his heir into Paradise was a cause for him to enter the Hellfire!
The intelligent person is the one who puts forward the wealth that he loves, so that he will find it in the next life. For the person who loves something keeps it close to himself, and does not leave it to others so that he will regret when the regret will be of no benefit to him.
One of the kings said to the known ascetic, Abu Hazim, 'Why do we hate death?' He replied, 'Because you revere this worldly life. You have put your wealth in front of your eyes, so you hate to part with it. If you put it forward for the next life, you would have loved to meet it!'
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said,
لَنْ تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتّٰى تُنْفِقُوْا مِمَّا تُحِبُّوْنَ ۗوَمَا تُنْفِقُوْا مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ بِهٖ عَلِيْمٌ
'You will never attain virtue until you spend something you are fond of; while Allah is Aware of anything you may spend.' [QS. Ali 'Imran (3):92]
A poetry states,
You who have gathered wealth,
have you gathered days to spend it?
Wealth is only deposited with you for its inheritors,
wealth is only yours once you spend it (in the path of Allah)
Thus, whoever spends something today, will benefit from it tomorrow, and whoever does not spend, will come to find nothing, and he will have a great loss in the house of dwelling in the Hereafter.
A women, her hand was paralysed, entered upon the Mother of the Believers and most beloved wife of the Prophet (ﷺ), ‘A’ishah (radiyallahu 'anha), and she said, “O mother of the Believers, I went to sleep yesterday and my hand was healthy, and I woke up and it was paralysed. A’ishah said, 'How is that?' She said, 'I had wealthy parents, and my Father used to pay zakat, host guests, and give to beggars, and he did not see any good except that he would do it. As for my mother, she was stingy, and did nothing good with my Father’s wealth. Then my Father died, and my mother died only two months after him. So, I saw my Father in a dream last night, and he was wearing two yellow garments and in front of him was a flowing river. I said, 'Father, what is this?’ He said, 'Whoever does good in this life, will see it, this is what Allah has given me.'
I said, 'What has happened to my mother?' He asked, 'Your mother died?' I said, 'Yes.'
He said, 'She has been turned away from me, so look for her on your' So I turned to my left, and I saw mother standing naked, covering her lower half with a rag and in her hand was a piece of fat. She was calling out, 'My sadness, my thirst!' When she became tired, she would rub the fat with her hand and then lick it, while in front of her was a flowing river. I said, ‘O mother, why are you crying out of thirst, and there is a flowing river in front of you?’ She said, 'I'm not allowed to drink from it.’ I said, ‘Can I give you some of the water?’ She said, ‘I wish you would do that.’ So I filled my hand with water and let her drink, and when she swallowed it, I heard a voice on my right, ‘Whoever has given this woman water, may his hand be paralysed,’ and they repeated it twice. Then I awoke and my hand was paralysed, and I am not able to do anything with it.' A’ishah asked, ‘Did you recognise the rag she was wearing?’ I said, ‘Yes, O Mother of the Believers, it was exactly the same one I saw her wearing, for I had never seen my mother give anything as charity, except that one day, my Father slaughtered a bull. So a beggar came to ask for some, so my mother gave him a bone that had some fat on it. And I saw one day that a beggar asked her for charity, so she gave him that exact rag.’
‘A’ishah (radiyallahu 'anha) said, ‘Allah is the Most Great! Allah has told the truth, and the Messenger has delivered his message.
فَمَنْ يَّعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَّرَهٗۚ وَمَنْ يَّعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَّرَهٗ
'And whoever has done an atoms’ weight of good will see it; while whoever has done an atom's weight of evil will see it. And whoever has done an atoms’ weight of good will see it; while whoever has done an atom's weight of evil will see it.' [QS. Az-Zalzalah (99):7-8]
[This was narrated by Hafiz Abu Musa al-Madini with a good isnad]
Whoever goes on a journey without any provisions, will regret when he is need of his provisions, but this regret will not benefit him in the least, and perhaps he would even perish. So how about a person that takes the long and difficult journey to the Afterlife without any provisions?
A poetry states,
The sickness in my body increases,
and life is getting shorter and my sins are many.
How long is my journey,
and I have no provision!
[Part 2]
