صدقة جارية
Why Sadaqa Jariah?
Charity that keeps on giving — even after the giver is gone.
Charity that keeps on giving — even after the giver is gone.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
"When a person dies, their deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity (sadaqa jariah), beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for them."
This site is built around all three at once. Every person's profile is a small act of beneficial knowledge — a record of who they were, so their story and lessons aren't lost. Every dua left on a memorial page is a prayer from someone who loved them. And every donation dedicated to their name is sadaqa jariah — a charity whose reward keeps reaching them for as long as it keeps helping others.
Unlike a one-time gift, sadaqa jariah is charity that keeps producing benefit long after it's given. The scholars point to examples the Prophet ﷺ and his companions set: digging a well, planting a tree, building a masjid, funding a school, or supporting an orphan. Each of these keeps helping people — sometimes for generations — and the giver keeps earning reward the entire time, without doing anything more.
"The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed which grows seven spikes; in every spike there is a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies for whom He wills."
Sa'd ibn Ubadah (RA) asked the Prophet ﷺ which charity was best. He said: "Water." So Sa'd dug a well and said, "This is for the mother of Sa'd" — dedicating its reward to her after her passing.
A donation can be dedicated to someone living or someone who has passed — and both carry real meaning in Islam. For someone who has passed, the scholars agree that charity given on their behalf reaches them and can benefit them in the hereafter, based on the hadith of Sa'd ibn Ubadah above and similar narrations. For someone living, dedicating a gift "in their honor" is a way of celebrating them and multiplying good in their name — a gift that keeps their legacy growing while they're still here to see it.
This is exactly what the dedication feature on every cause page is for: choose a name, give, and mention that name in your donation's memo so the family knows who it was for.
Our family's own history is tied to this idea of lasting charity. Nearly 450 years ago, our ancestors — descendants of the Prophet ﷺ known as Sayeds, who served as Qazis (judges) in the Mogul court — were granted land that became the village of Paigaam Kasbah, the first Muslim settlement in the region. They built a masjid, a school, and established the Kazi family waqf that has supported the village for generations.
That waqf is itself a centuries-old sadaqa jariah — proof that ongoing charity can outlast the person who started it by hundreds of years. This site continues that same spirit, in whatever small way we can, for our own generation and the ones after us.
Browse the causes our family supports, or add a profile for someone you want the family to remember.