Know Allahﷻ and love him

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “When the human being dies, his deeds end except for three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for him.”Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1631 Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Muslim عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ إِذَا مَاتَ الْإِنْسَانُ انْقَطَعَ عَنْهُ عَمَلُهُ إِلَّا مِنْ ثَلَاثَةٍ إِلَّا مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ جَارِيَةٍ أَوْ عِلْمٍ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ أَوْ وَلَدٍ صَالِحٍ يَدْعُو لَهُ In Riyaad us Saliheen Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When a man dies, his deeds come to an end except for three things: Sadaqah Jariyah (ceaseless charity); a knowledge which is beneficial, or a virtuous descendant who prays for him (for the deceased)." [Muslim]. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قال‏:‏ قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏:‏ ‏ "‏إذا مات ابن آدم انقطع عمله إلا من ثلاث‏:‏ صدقة جارية ،أو علم ينتفع به، أو ولد صالح يدعو له‏"‏ ‏(‏‏(‏رواه مسلم‏)‏‏)‏‏.‏ How to Benefit the Deceased in the AfterlifeThe Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “When a person dies, all his deeds come to an end except three:Sadaqah jaariyah (ongoing charity, e.g. endowment)Beneficial knowledge (which he has left behind and others benefit from it)A righteous child who will pray for him.”(Reported by al-Tirmidhi, no 1376; he said this is a saheeh hasan hadeeth) Supplication - DuaBased on this, the most important thing that the living can do for the dead is supplicate for them. Ask for forgiveness and mercy for them, and for paradise and salvation from the hell fire. Prayers for forgiveness offered by both sons and daughters of the deceased bring great benefits, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “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 du’aa’s (prayers) for forgiveness for you.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah, no 3660; see also Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1617) CharityAnother thing that may reach the deceased is sadaqah (charity) given on his/her behalf, because ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that a man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “My mother has passed away, and if she could have spoken, she would have given something in charity. Will she receive a reward if I give something on her behalf?” He said, “Yes.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath, 1388) Hajj, Umrah, or FastingOther deeds that may also benefit the deceased are Hajj and ‘Umrah on their behalf, provided the living person has first performed Hajj and ‘Umrah on his or her own behalf already. Adullaah ibn Buraydah reported that his father (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “While I was sitting with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), a woman came to him and said: ‘I gave my mother a slave-woman in charity, and now my mother has died.’ He said: ‘You have got your reward, and your right of inheritance has brought your gift back to you.’ She said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, she still had one month to fast – can I fast it on her behalf?’ He said, ‘Fast it on her behalf.’ She said, ‘She never went to Hajj – can I perform Hajj on her behalf?’ He said, ‘Perform Hajj on her behalf.’” (Reported by Muslim, may Allaah have mercy on him, in his Saheeh, no. 1149)This shows that it is also permissible to fast on behalf of the deceased. Fulfill Vows of the DeceasedIbn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that a woman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: “My mother made a vow to perform Hajj but she died before she could do it. Can I perform Hajj on her behalf?” He said, “Yes, perform Hajj on her behalf. Don’t you think that if your mother owed a debt you would pay it off?” She said, “Yes.” He said, “Then pay off what is owed to Allah, for Allah is more deserving of having vows fulfilled.” (al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 7315) Share in a Sacrificial AnimalAnother thing that may benefit the deceased is if his relative devotes a share to him of a sacrifice he offers. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) offered a sacrifice, he said: “In the name of Allaah, O Allaah, on behalf of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad” (reported by Muslim, no. 1967) – and the family of Muhammad included both the living and the dead. قال الأصمعي،سمعت أعرابياً يتضرّع إلىٰ الله،بكلمات فقأت عيون البلاغة،و أيتمت جواهر الحكمة،سمعته يقول:كفىٰ بي عزاً أنْ أكون لك عبداً،و كفىٰ بي فخراً أنْ تكون لي ربّاً،*أنت كما أحب فاجعلني كما تُحب. .Al-Asma'i said, I heard a Bedouin Arab praying to AllahﷻWith words that opened the eyes of eloquence,And orphaned the jewels of wisdom,I heard him say:It is enough for me to be your slave,And it is enough for me to be proud that you are my Rabb,You are as I love, so make me as you like. Auto-generated transcript: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the honour of the prophets and messengers, Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and upon his family and his family. Peace and blessings be upon him. My brothers and sisters, Allah mentioned the purpose of our creation. Allah told us why he created us. And what did he say? Why did he create us? Why? So what's the ayah? وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِعَبْدُهُ Allah said, I have not created the jinn and the human beings for anything other than my worship. This is understood also in the context of إِلَّا لِيَعْرِفُونَ Except to know me. As Imam al-Ghazali said, you cannot worship the one you don't know. You cannot worship Allah if you don't know Allah. So to know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, to build a connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, to have a ta'alluq with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, this is the... purpose of our creation. This is not something we do in our spare time. This is not something we do for a 10-minute khatir after Maghrib. This is not something we do on a Friday. This is the reason we exist. Now, the reason it is important to understand this is because anything is valued based on the reason it exists. Right? This phone, for example, has value. Why? Because it works. Because it does what I want it to do. Supposing it goes dead. It happened to me once. One Android phone, nothing wrong with it, just a few months old, just became a brick. Nothing. It won't turn on, run off, nothing. But it's the same phone. The phone didn't change the shape, didn't change the color, it's the same phone. So what do you think I did? What would you do? Make a locket and hang it on your neck and say, oh, you know, beautiful phone, I loved it, after all it's my phone. No. There's no reason. You just throw it, you get another one. It is supposed to work. Maybe you will try to, you give it to somebody, say, can you repair this thing? What if he says, no, this can't be repaired, it's gone. Khalas. Then what do you do? Replace. You throw it. A thing is based on the reason it exists. On fulfilling the reason, the purpose of its existence. There's no other value. So Allah created us to know Him and to worship Him. And if we don't make the effort to know Allah, and if we don't make the effort to worship Allah , then we lose our value. Decreases depending on how much we do. Those who don't do anything at all, they are like the dead phone. There's no value, zero value. Those who don't do that, those who do a little bit of this and that, still the value is less. And when we meet Allah, we are going to be tested on that basis. Some of you will hear, after Azhar, I did the khatra, I mentioned this. The ayat of the Qur'an. You were here, you heard that. Now, how do you know Allah? How must I know and what must, how must I build my connection with Allah? Two ways. Both are required. One is to know Allah. Two is to know Allah. First one, reflect on the glory and majesty and power and strength of Allah . Think about Allah as He described Himself. Allah said, Allah, there is no God but He, the Ever-Living, the Ever-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness nor sleep takes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. Who is that who gels with Allah except with His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and theycja living's knowledge no circums dislives them except by His Travis. Hewohlū shufir andererhas ām And He is the Most High, the Most Great. He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. He is Allah, who has no god but Him. The King, the Holy, the Peaceful, the Believer, the All-Merciful, the Great. The Great, the Great, the All-Merciful. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Glory be to Allah. And You are that which Förth pueda. Glorified and exalted. Drawer and lively and remover of root. Powerful. of judgment. What will happen to your and my heart if the heart is alive and if this was the ayat of the Quran, what would happen to that heart? Right? You will say I have to go before Al-Qahhar Al-Jabbar. I have to go before Al-Muntaqim. Allah will take revenge. But Allah did not say that. He said Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. The first ayat of Surah Al-Fatiha. Make sure you recite this. If you read Surah Al-Fatiha starting with Alhamdulillah without saying Bismillahirrahmanirrahim your Surah Al-Fatiha is incomplete. Your salah is invalid. Please understand this. Surah Al-Fatiha has seven ayat. First ayat is Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. You say it loudly or softly. It doesn't matter. You have to say it. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. The most merciful. Al-Rahman is the