It Is Far More Enriching

By Barr Olori-Aje Adam

The recent report concerning the wish of a deceased popular Nigerian actor, as related by the Chief Imam whom the deceased had entrusted with millions of naira with which the deceased intended to renovate the family house, set me thinking deeply.

According to the report, following the deceased’s passing, the Chief Imam declared the money entrusted to him and the intention of the deceased on the money to the heirs of the deceased The deceased family called for the money, and it was eventually returned to them.

While praying for Allah’s mercy on the deceased, the report naturally raises some profound questions:

1) _Why do we often wait until the point of critical illness before expressing our wishes about what should be done with our wealth?

2) _Why do we sometimes leave behind noble intentions, hoping that our heirs will see them in the same light and carry them out after we are gone?

3) _Why do we postpone acts of charity and other investments for the Hereafter until death is already knocking at the door?

I do not intend to embark on a voyage of answers to these troubling questions. Rather, the incident reminds me of one simple but profound truth, which is the fact that the best investments we make for the Hereafter are those we make personally while we are still alive.

Your intention may be noble. Your proposed charity may be immensely beneficial. Your wish may be pleasing to Allah (SWT). Yet, once you depart from this world, you may no longer be in control of the wealth you leave behind. What you hoped your heirs would do with it may not necessarily be what they choose to do.

This is why Allah (SWT) gives us a deeply sobering reminder in Qur’an 63.10 thus:

“And spend from that which We have provided for you before death comes.…”’

The directive of Allah (SWT) in the above verse is quite unambiguous for every conscious Muslim. The Qur’an does not tell us merely to give. It reminds us to spend before death comes.

This is because after death, the opportunity to increase our deeds through voluntary spending is gone. We may leave behind millions and properties, but we can not turn a single dime of them into sadaqat ourselves.

Again, we may leave behind good intentions, but we can not guarantee that the same will be fulfilled after our death.

So, why do we have to wait until death is knocking before attempting to accomplish what a dying person may desperately wish to accomplish when the opportunity is right before us today?

Today; we are alive. We still possess our wealth.We still possess our faculties. We still have the ability to give. We still have the opportunity to feed the hungry, support the needy, build a mosque, renovate a family house, educate a child, assist a struggling family, support beneficial knowledge, establish a lasting charity, and spend in the cause of Allah.

So, again, why postponing what can be done today? Why leave our charities as an instruction for others when we can perform it yourself? Why entrusting the investment of our hereafter entirely to people who may not share our vision after we are gone?

Let’s be reminded that the wealth we spend sincerely for Allah is not lost at all. In reality, it is what we have sent ahead, which will qualify us for eternal bliss before Allah (SWT).

Conversely, the wealth we leave behind is no longer ours. It becomes the property of those entitled to inherit it, and they will deal with it according to their wishes. They may eventually sell what we so much treasured that we can not personally invest in our hereafter before death.

The clarion call today is that we should not postpone our investment in the hereafter on the assumption that others will execute every good intention we had. They  may, and they may not, so don’t gamble with your hereafter.

We should not wait until death is near before attempting to accomplish what we had the opportunity and strength to accomplish while we were alive. Let’s establish our sadaqah jāriyah personally before the inevitable comes knocking.

There is a unique sweetness in giving while we are alive, conscious of what we are giving, capable of choosing where it goes, witnessing its impacts and willingly sacrificing what we could have kept for ourselves, all for the sake of Allah (SWT). The joy is personal as it enriches the soul, deepens our connection with Allah (SWT), and establishes a stronger hope in our hearts that our hereafter will be blissful.

Therefore, while Allah has given us life, health, wealth, and opportunity, we should not postpone our investment in the hereafter or entrust it to others.

Give passionately in ways that continue to benefit people even after we have returned to Allah (SWT) because, one day, every one of us will stand at that point where we will wish that we had personally sent more ahead.

So, let us not wait for death to teach us the value of charity. Let us not wait until death makes us value the very deeds that we have the opportunity to perform today. Let us learn the lesson while we are still alive. Let us invest in our hereafter personally because, truly, IT’S FAR MORE ENRICHING.

*O Allah, grant us a good ending and the wisdom to personally invest in the hereafter while we are still in this world. O Allah, bless us with righteous and virtuous heirs who will respect Your commands concerning our estate, honour our lawful wishes, and remember us in their prayers after our death.