Your deeds and du'as are felt, even if they're not seen. How often have you prayed for change
and given up because you couldn't see it? But what if your du'a was setting the stage for something greater than you could ever imagine? What if it's your du'a for Gaza
that's planting the feet of the people firmer, or moving up their victory by a few years? What if your du'a for a loved one is transforming their life here and there? Just because you
can't see how your du'a is shaping the world, doesn't mean it's not shifting its axis. You're praying to Rabb al-'Alamin, the Lord of all the worlds, and your du'a may not just be
changing the world, but it could be changing the worlds. Someone may have changed your
world, but they left it before they could see it here. While Sumayyah (رضي الله عنها) already received her reward of shahada and has been flying around from the throne of Allah to the trees of Jannah ever since, she had no expectation of what Allah would
make of her sacrifice as far as this world was concerned. But what if when Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, the shaheed, who was the son of her tormentor, flew to her at death and said
you changed the world with your perseverance, Mecca became Muslim after you, and so much more happened on the backs of you and your family's sacrifice? The people of Gaza
who left this world have put into motion the final freedom of al-Aqsa bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. What's it like when we will go to them insha'Allah and tell them, O people of Gaza, you have
no idea what you started. This is the whole concept of a sadaqah jariyah in Islam, a continuous charity where the Prophet (ﷺ) said that the good deeds that continue
to benefit a believer after death are the things that he put into motion, a knowledge that he taught and disseminated, a righteous child who lived after him, a mushaf that
he left as inheritance, a masjid that he built, a house that he built for the wayfarers, or maybe a stream that he ran or a charity that he gave from his wealth while he was still
healthy and alive. And Imam al-Mundhiri says some of the scholars say that the deeds of a human being indeed end with his death. However, since he had caused these things, the rewards
continue to reach him as long as they continue to exist. Why? Because Allah says in His mercy that He will not neglect an atom's weight of deeds. And since these are still the effect
of his deeds, Allah records these contributions for a person even after his death. And how many of those deeds that benefit people caused them to make du'a for those who made it possible
for them, even if they don't know their names? Think about how many of us who made tawbah in their lives now or refocused on Allah are actually the sadaqah jariyah of the
people of Gaza? What's it like when a person in the grave from Gaza who was killed by an American bomb receives a du'a on the other side and says, who is that from? And the angels
say it's actually from an American named John or Jessica that converted to Islam because of you. Our worlds are connected. Du'as and deeds flow through. And the transmission of
news while sometimes a bit fuzzy doesn't mean that we're not deeply impacting one another across that barrier. When you're making du'a, you are invoking Rabb al-'Alamin, the Lord
of all the worlds. So your du'a isn't limited in impact to this world. It can change someone else's world in the barzakh. And how deep is that impact? Al-Abbas ibn Ya'qub narrates
that one of the righteous saw his father in a dream. And he said, oh my son, why have you stopped sending your gifts to us? So he replied, oh my father, do the dead recognize
the gifts of the living? And he said, ya bunayya, lawla al-ahyaa halakat al-amwat. Oh my son, if it were not for the living, the dead would perish. SubhanAllah, what a powerful
sentence. Sufyan ibn Uyaynah said, it used to be said, al-amwat ahwaju ila al-du'a min al-ahyaa ila al-ta'am. That the dead are in more need of du'a than the living
are of food. And if that's the case, how often do you make du'a for your parents or your loved ones? Once a day? Once a week? Once a year? Just like it may only seem like
we increase our du'as in Ramadan, it may feel like that on the other side too. What does a du'a drought look like in the barzakh? And how much impact does your du'a really have for someone in that world? There is a narration that states that the du'a is the
weapon of the believer. And we often think about it exclusively in this dunya. But what if your du'a could be a weapon for the people in their graves? What if it's a shield that's given to someone just when the punishment is about to reach them? Ahmed ibn Yahya says
that one of my companions said to me, my brother died. And then I saw him in a dream where I asked him, in what condition were you in the moment that we placed you in your grave?
And he said to me, someone came to me carrying a torch. And had it not been for the du'a of one of you, he was about to set me on fire. Amr ibn Jarir said, when one supplicates for
his deceased brother, an angel comes to his grave with that du'a and says, يَا صَاحِبَ الْقَبْرِ الْغَرِيبُ هَدِيَّةٌ مِنْ أَخٍ عَلَيْكَ شَفِيقٍ O occupant of the grave, this is a gift from a brother who cares about you.
In another narration from Ibn Abi Dunya, he says that one of the salaf said, I saw a brother of mine in a dream after his death. So I asked him, does the du'a of the living reach you? And he said, by Allah, it shimmers like light. And then we adorn our graves with it.
So practically speaking, when someone who is alive intercedes for a dead person who is being punished, it's very possible that his punishment is halted, even if only for
a short time. And when he intercedes for a righteous person already enjoying their grave, that person is just raised by even another degree. But picture this fully. Bashar ibn
Ghalib (رحمه الله) said, I saw the great worshipper, Rabi'a al-Adawiyya (رضي الله عنها) in a dream. And he said, and I used to always make du'a for her. So I said to her
in my dream, are my du'as reaching you? She said, Ya Bashar ibn Ghalib, your du'as come to us like gifts upon platters of light. And they're covered with silk napkins as they're
then presented to us. I asked, how is that? She said, this is how the du'a of the living believers for the deceased works. And that gift is far more precious than anything you
could have given someone while they were still here. What more beautiful, what more expensive, what more rewarding than a du'a that decorates the grave and expands it. And as you look
forward to your most precious night in Ramadan to make all those special du'as for yourself, don't forget those precious souls that are hoping you'll remember them that night as well.
