Deeds that Save you from Punishment of the Grave | The Other Side: Barzakh and Beyond Ep. 14
What if the deed that saves you is one you barely remember? Or worse, what if the deed that condemns you is one you never thought to make right?
In the Barzakh, your actions take form. Your good deeds will be the only company you keep, appearing as beautiful companions. But your sins, especially those you ignored, will return as a painful reckoning.
So what have you done that could be your salvation? And what must you make right before it’s too late?
NOTE: All depictions of Barzakh are purely conceptual and only vocals were used in the making of the soundtrack.
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References
- Ata ibn Yasar said: “When the deceased is placed in his grave, the first thing that comes to him is his deeds. His deeds strike his left thigh and say, ‘I am your deeds.’ The deceased then asks, ‘Where are my family, my children, my tribe, and the wealth that Allah had granted me?’ His deeds reply, ‘You have left your family, your children, your tribe, and all that Allah provided for you behind, and none of them have entered the grave with you except me.’ At that, he laments, ‘Oh, if only I had given you priority over my family, my children, my tribe, and all that Allah had granted me, since nothing else has accompanied me here but you.’” [Ibn Rajab, Ahwal al-Quboor]
- The Prophet ﷺ said: “Three things follow the deceased: his family, his wealth, and his deeds. Two return, and one remains with him. His family and wealth go back, but his deeds stay with him.” [Sahih al-Bukhari #6514; Sahih Muslim #2960]
- The Prophet ﷺ said: “...A handsome man, with fine clothes and wonderful fragrance, will come [to the believing soul] and say, ‘Glad tidings of what pleases you, for this was your Day you were promised!’ [The believer] will say. ‘Who are you with such a handsome face?’ He will reply, ‘I am your righteous deeds!’ … [But the disbelieving soul] will be approached by an ugly man, with hideous clothing and a foul stench, who will say: ‘Rejoice in what will bring you misery, for this is the day you were promised!’ [The disbeliever] will say, ‘Who are you? Your face is one that brings evil.’ He will reply, ‘I am your wicked deeds!’” [Musnad Ahmad]
- The Prophet ﷺ said: “The most beloved deeds to Allah are those most consistent, even if they are small.” [Sahih al-Bukhari #6464; Sahih Muslim #783b]
- The Prophet ﷺ said: “I saw (in a dream) a man from my nation who was panting from extreme thirst, then the fasting of Ramadan came and gave him drink.” [At-Tabarani, Al-Ahadith at-Tiwal]
- The Prophet ﷺ said: “The deeds of every deceased person are sealed upon their death, except for the one who dies while guarding the borders in Allah’s cause. Their deeds continue to grow until the Day of Resurrection, and they are spared from the trial of the grave.” [Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #1621]
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.You Only Need One Deed to Succeed What if the deed that could save you is one you barely remember? Or worse, the one that condemns you is the one you never thought to rectify? You might not even remember it – a moment of kindness, or a word that caused harm. But on the other side, every deed carries weight. And sometimes, it's the forgotten ones that tip the scales. What have you done that could be your salvation? Or what might you need to make right before it's too late? Ata' ibn Yasar (رضي الله عنه) said that when the dead wakes up in his grave, the first thing that will come to him are his deeds. So the deeds will strike his thigh and wake him up and say, "ana amaluk" – I am your deeds. So then the man will say, where is my family? Where are my kids? Where are my people? Where is what Allah has given me? And the deeds will say, you have left your family, you've left your children, you've left your people and all that Allah has granted you behind you. And you're not going to live in this grave except with me. So then the man will say, "laytani aathartuka ala ahli wa waladi wa ashirati" – woe to me. I wish I would have preferred you over my family, my children, my people, and everything Allah granted me, since nothing will live with me now except for you. The Prophet (ﷺ) famously said, three things follow you to your grave – your wealth, your family, and your deeds. Your wealth and your family turned back, but your deeds stay with you. That's in regards to your worldly family. But you'll
notice something else in the narrations about the barzakh. Everyone else visits you and you visit them, but you only actually live with your deeds. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that when you see your deeds, you would already know from the look of them what type of news they bring you. So you're either awakened by some beautiful human form or a really ugly one, and that's based on how you made them. Our deeds are the most important thing we're going to send forward into the barzakh. They protect you, they accompany you, they live with you, and in some cases, they save you. And when we hear about the punishment of the grave and the terrifying aspects and then look at our life and our deeds, we may not feel like we measure up. A lot of people feel very disconnected and so far away from those actions that bring a person salvation. But like with everything else, it's important to focus on the fundamentals. The Prophet (ﷺ) said the most beloved deeds to Allah are the consistent ones, even if they're small. You don't realize but every time you're making wudu for the sole purpose of pleasing Allah, those could be washing your future self from sins that would have otherwise incurred the punishment of the grave. And what you're going to notice when we get into the specific punishments of the grave is that they're usually bad habits that people have that accumulate into eventually becoming major sins. Also remember that the grave is a place for purification for some of the believers so that they don't have to be purified in the hereafter. And for others, it's a preview of what's worse and is yet to come. Now many of us are familiar with the long hadith of al-isra' wa al-mi'raj where the Prophet (ﷺ) mentions the specific deeds that bring about punishment for a person. There's also this long beautiful narration that Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) said we should memorize where the Prophet (ﷺ) goes through the specific things that save you
in the grave. He says (ﷺ), I saw a thirsty man from my nation who was being turned away from every water basin and then fasting during the month of Ramadan approached him and it quenched his thirst. So I want you to think about when you hold yourself back from drinking water on a hot day and you're fasting and how amazing that first sip of water is at iftar. Imagine how much sweeter that sip of water is in the barzakh after the long expedition into the grave. Also one of the things that the scholars mention of the wisdoms of this is that in Jannah the Prophet (ﷺ) said whoever drinks wine in this world will be forbidden from it in the hereafter. But you forbade yourself from wine here so you get to drink it in Jannah. Now likewise in barzakh you forbade yourself from water here during your fasting so Allah lets you have it there instead. He then says (ﷺ) and I saw a man from my ummah with darkness beneath him while prophets were gathered in circles. Whenever he approached a circle he was turned away but then his ghusl, his bathing from a state of janabah took him by the hand and sat him next to those circles. And this is the blessing of following the sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ) because who doesn't love a shower? But you find yourself in ease here and there just for following the sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ). But let's also realize that for some people if it's cold and they live in a place where it's hard to get hot water or it's hot and it's hard to get cold water ghusl can be extremely difficult but they immerse themselves in that water for the sake of Allah so Allah immerses them in the circles of the prophets. Then the Prophet (ﷺ)
says I saw a man from my ummah and he was lost in darkness. Then his hajj and his umrah came and they pulled him into the light. Now I want you to think about hajj and umrah. Is there any experience in Islam that's more immersive than hajj and umrah? In hajj and umrah you are literally surrounded by light. In every direction you look you see something that reminds you of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You see the Ka'bah, you see Zamzam, you see Safa, you see Marwa, you see Arafah, you see the other hujjaj that are dressed in white that remind you of your death. So it's only fitting that hajj and umrah would give you light in a space of darkness. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said and I saw a man from my ummah who was trying to avoid the fire and then his sadaqah came, his voluntary charity came and it shielded him from the fire. Now I want you to think about what that means in dunya. The scholars say just as your charity protects others from the hardship of this life it will be a shield for you from the fire in the grave and of course when you rise up on the day of judgment it becomes as the Prophet (ﷺ) said, your shade from the sun. Then he said (ﷺ) and I saw a man from my ummah who was going up to believers and he was speaking to them but they wouldn't respond to him. Then his silatul rahim, his establishing the ties of kinship came and they said oh believers this one maintained the family ties that Allah made sacred so speak to him. So the believers look at him and they start to shake his hand and they start to speak to him. Now subhanAllah this one's so powerful because how many people
abandon their family for their friends in this life and now the believers are befriending you in the barzakh because you maintained your family ties. So again it's the complete opposite of what we're used to in this dunya. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said, I saw a man from my ummah who was saved from the angels of punishment and instead he joined with the angels of mercy because of the good which he used to command and the evil which he used to forbid. Now when you do amr bil ma'ruf wa nahi anil munkar in joining good and forbidding evil what are you effectively doing? You're protecting the deen, you're safeguarding the sunnah, you're speaking out against the oppressors and protecting the oppressed. So Allah will reward you by sending you angels of mercy to protect you from angels of punishment. And then he said (ﷺ), I saw a man from my ummah kneeling before a curtain between him and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and then his husnul khuluq, his good character came and it took him by the hand and it placed him before Allah. The closest person to Allah is the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Prophet (ﷺ) said the closest of you to me will be those of you who have the best character. And the hadith goes on to mention other manifestations of good deeds that save you later on in the journey. But here's the thing, Allah isn't just fair, he's merciful. He knows the deeds you wanted to do but couldn't and the deeds you wish you could have done better and he expands those deeds to unimaginable rewards. You know I was speaking to a cousin of mine who lives in Gaza and he was saying we've never been allowed to go to Al-Aqsa and it's right around the corner. Can you imagine subhanAllah the cruelty of that? And he said and we've never been allowed to do Hajj or Umrah and you people get to go from America and he even said you guys get to do da'wah and we don't get to do da'wah because we don't have anyone to do da'wah to and I'm like you're doing
the greatest da'wah just by being yourselves. But you know what? He said we know that we are also murabitun. We are those who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has chosen to be the guards of Islam by refusing to give up this land. And I want you to think about this hadith from the Prophet (ﷺ). He said (ﷺ) that every dead person's deeds are sealed at the time of death except for the one who stands guard in the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. His good deeds continue to expand until the day of judgment and he is protected from the fitna of the grave. SubhanAllah think about this. He guarded the territory of Islam so Allah guarded the territory of his good deeds and Allah in his mercy will take your smallest good deed and increase it so long as you are sincere. But on the other hand you may have some things to rectify before you can reach that bliss. Perhaps you had a minor sin that you took lightly or there was a person that you hurt more than you thought you did or there was a major sin that will wait for the intercession of the Prophet (ﷺ) on the day of judgment. But the hard work it takes to root these issues out with whatever few moments you have left on earth is so much less painful than having to try to deal with them once you get to the barzakh. Perhaps I will do good in that which I have left. No, it is but a word that he speaks. And from behind them is a barzakh until the Day they are resurrected.
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