Wells, schools, trees, waqf: permanent charity's forms, their continuous reward for living and dead, and how to organize them.
The sadaqa jariya is the charity whose benefit continues after death, the first of the 3 deeds that do not cease:
When the son of Adam dies, his deeds cease except for 3: a flowing charity, useful knowledge, and a righteous child who invokes for him.
Muslim 1631
The attested forms of sadaqa jariya
- Water: Sa'd ibn Ubada asked which gift is best; the Prophet answered: "water"; Sa'd dug a well and said: "it is for Umm Sa'd", his deceased mother (Abu Dawud 1679 ; Abu Dawud 1681). Before him, Uthman ibn Affan had bought back the well of Ruma to water the Muslims of Medina (Ibn Hisham, As-Sira an-Nabawiyya).
- The tree and cultivation: "never does a Muslim plant a tree or sow a seed without a bird, a person or an animal eating from it, without it being a charity for him" (al-Bukhari 2320).
- Lasting spending: "those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah are like a grain from which 7 ears grow, each with a 100 grains" (Quran 2:261).
- The mosque and the school: building and endowing what benefits generations; the legal framework is the waqf, today framed by AAOIFI Shari'a Standard No. 60 "Waqf" (2019) and resolution No. 181 of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, 19th session (Sharjah, April 2009), which allows dedicating shares, sukuk and rights as waqf.
How to organise sadaqa jariya
- During one's life: the safest way: give, document, entrust execution to a reliable organisation; sincere intention is the key.
- In the name of a deceased person: valid and meritorious, on the example of Sa'd for his mother (Abu Dawud 1681).
- By will: a third of the estate may fund a lasting project, the limit fixed when Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas wished to bequeath all his wealth: "a third, and a third is already much" (al-Bukhari 1298 ; Muslim 1628).
The measure of sadaqa
"The best charity is that given while one is rich, beginning with one's dependents" (al-Bukhari 1425); and "every tasbih is a charity" (Muslim 2588): the sadaqa jariya completes daily charity, it does not replace it.
Practical note on sadaqa jariya
Choose projects whose execution can be verified (reports, photos, local management), avoid unverifiable promises, involve the children: the sadaqa jariya also educates wealth in the service of good.