Invest In Your A`Khira

The greatest and most rewarding investments lie in four areas of our lives, for they yield the best returns both in this World and in the Hereafter. These are:

1. Faith in Allah (SWT)
2. Knowledge
3. Health
4. Generosity

Today, I wish to reflect on generosity as one of the noblest forms of investment. Yet, it is important to stress the fact that, investing in learning or knowledge, health, and generosity without grounding them in faith will ultimately yield nothing but loss. For on the Day when returns on all investments are due, faith will be the foundation that gives value to every other deed.

Allah (SWT) makes this clear in Surat Ibrahim (14:18) thus:

“The example of those who disbelieve in their Lord is that, their deeds are like ashes blown away by a fierce wind on a stormy day. They will have no power over anything they earned. That (disbelieving) is indeed the farthest misguidance (on their part).”

Similar declarations appear throughout the Qur’an, warning that deeds without faith are stripped of all value. Some examples are as follows:

1) Disbelievers’ investments in this life and the Hereafter are made fruitless. (Q26:217; Q3:22; Al-A‘raf 7:147; Muhammad 47:9, 28, 32

2) Disbelievers’ works’ will be nullified and they will be awaken as losers. (Al-Ma’idah 5:53; At-Tawbah 9:69; Al-Kahf 18:105).

3) Disbelievers’ efforts will collapse, and their abode shall be the Fire. (At-Tawbah 9:17).

4) Disbelievers’ investments will be like a mirage in the desert and they will have nothing when they seek to harvest the returns on their good deeds. (An-Nur 24:39).

5) Disbelievers’ investments are misdirected and void of benefit in the Hereafter. (Muhammad 47:1, 8).

Thus, the Noble Qur’an reminds us that faith in Allah, The Most Knowledgeable, is the first and most vital investment. Without it, every other effort, no matter how noble, becomes like scattered dust, devoid of eternal value.

Now, on generosity….

Allah, Azza wa Jallah warns us in Sūrah Al-Munāfiqūn (63:9–10) as follows:

“O you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. Whoever does that is a loser. Spend from what We have blessed you with before death comes knocking and you say; My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term so that I can give charity and be among the righteous.

These verses remind us that life is short and deceptive.  Everything we have in form of wealth, children, and comfort is a trust that must be expended with faith, and that one day, we shall leave it behind and be accountable for how we expended them. The verse emphasized that before, death approaches every one of us, we should extend our hands in much charity.

Most often we find ourselves postponing good deeds, thinking we will have more time later. Yet Allah (SWT) tells us of a person who will beg for just a short delay at the moment of death so as to give charity and be counted among the righteous. But at that time, regret will not bring another chance.

The Prophet (Sallallāhu ʿAlayhi Wasallam) also told us that each day of our lives, two Angels descend: one asking Allah to bless those who give, and the other asking for the ruin of the miser.

This means that, every single day, our generosity or our stinginess is on record before Allah. This shows that charity is never a loss. It is rather an investment with Allah, The Most High. Everything spend sincerely for Allah’s sake is recorded, multiplied and kept safeguarded before Allah.

This should lead us to pause and reflect on the following: What am I really doing with the wealth Allah, The Provider, has entrusted to me? Am I investing in my A`khirah or am I delaying good deeds?

Do my children and possessions draw me closer to Allah (SWT), or do they distract me from His remembrance? Am I waiting for “tomorrow” to give, to repent, to act, when tomorrow is not guaranteed?

It is certain and we all know that, when death comes, it will not wait and no excuses or regrets will save us from it taking its course.

Today’s Jumu’ah service is another checkpoint for our souls. It is another rare opportunity to realign our priorities and to remind ourselves that, true success lies not in what we hold in our hands, but in what we send ahead for our Akhirah.

Therefore, remember Allah, our Creator and Sustainer, constantly. Give generously and sincerely from Allah’s blessings in your life, and seek opportunities to be counted among the righteous before it is too late.

May Allah, Azza wa Jallah, make us among those who remember Him often, spend in His cause sincerely, and meet Him with hearts full of faith and record full of good deeds.

May Allah protect us from heedlessness and from the whispers of Shayṭān.

Jum’at mubaarak

Precedents 

Narrated Abu Hurairah (R.A): “A man came to the Prophet, (SAW), and he encouraged others to give charity to him. One man said, “I have something,” and no man remained in the gathering without giving him some charity, great or small. The Prophet (SAW) said, “Whoever establishes a good precedent for others will earn its reward completely as well as the rewards of those who followed it, without decreasing any of their rewards at all. Whoever establishes an evil precedent for others will earn its burden of sin completely as well as the burdens of those who followed it, without decreasing any of their burdens at all.” Sunan Ibn Mājah 204

The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock. … A man is the shepherd of his household and is responsible for his flock.” Al-Bukhari (7138) and Muslim (1829)

We should strive to set positive examples for others to follow so that we can all benefit from them and receive rewards from Allah (SWT). It also reminds us that we should avoid setting negative examples as this can have serious consequences not only for ourselves but also for those around us. Emphasizing personal accountability for the paths and habits one introduces to society.

Striving

Narrated Amr ibn `Abasah (R. A): The Prophet (SAW) said, “Whoever builds a Masjid so that Allah may be remembered in it, Allah (SWT) will build a house for him in Paradise; and whoever frees a believer, then it will be his ransom from Hell; and whoever grows grey in Islam, then it will be a light for him on the Day of Judgment”. Ibn Katheer, Surah al-Balad, recorded by Imam Ahmad

Abu Hurairah (R.A) narrates, “The Prophet (SAW) advised me to do three things and I shall not leave them until I die, these are: To fast three days every month, to offer the Duha prayer, and to offer Witr before sleeping.” Sahih Bukhari

Scholars have emphasized the importance of voluntary acts of worship because it is through them that a servant draws closer to his Lord. The Prophet (SAW) revered the voluntary prayers as he did the fard Salah. Perfection, out of love for Allah (SWT). The reward for offering duha (mid-morning) prayer has been compared with that of Umrah (pilgrimage to Makkah).

Most of us aspire to tread in the footsteps of the prophets and their companions (may Allah be pleased with all of them), however only a handful actually do it.