Thus, any good that is done for a person after his death...

Thus, any good that is done for a person after his death does not result in an honour for him because he gave his wealth to somebody else to do good in his name. If a person was to bequeath all of his wealth - and even though such a will is not correct (from the Islamic point of view) - however this act still does not have any affect on the training of one's soul. Thus, after death, what kind of an effect can these acts have on a person?

In a well known tradition from the Messenger of Allah (S) it has been mentioned that a person made his will and stated that after his death, the entire supply of dates which were in his storage tower should be distributed amongst the poor people directly by the Messenger of Allah (S). When the person died, the Prophet (S) acted just as the man had written in the will.

When the distribution of the dates had finished, it was noticed that in the corner of the date silo, one withered, dried up date remained. The Prophet (S) picked up this dry date and said, “If the deceased man had given this one dry date in charity with his own hands, it would have been better for him than giving his entire store-house of dates in charity through my hands.” This is the case since the training of the soul was contained within giving that one dry date by his own hands.

As for that which will truly benefit a person on the Day of Resurrection is a pure heart (Qalb-e-Saleem) just as we read in the Noble Qur`an: إِلاَّ مَنْ اَتَـى اللٌّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ “Except for the one who comes to Allah with a pure heart (Qalb-e-Saleem)”[^3] The response of the healthy heart can be seen in its outward actions which are a direct result of the inner soul, spirit and etiquette of a person and it is for this reason that we are told that we must make our intentions pure and sincere.[^4] Some people question, “Why do you speak so much about the intention of a person??

Such and such a person built a hospital and no matter what his intention was, what difference does this make?

In any case and whatever his intention was, there are thousands of unfortunate and downtrodden people who are making use of the hospital!” However, this sort of thought is rejected in Islam and such words and opinions are a grave error since this is only in relation to the outward and material aspect of a deed done, however that which is important is the internal aspect of an action, which also has an affect on the training of a person.