The Barakah Blueprint · Episode 4

Leaving a Legacy That Outlives You

January 31, 202515m

Episode summary

Ibrahim Shareef reframes legacy as ongoing benefit you leave behind, not fame or wealth. Drawing on the Prophet's example and the Hadith of three lasting deeds (continuous charity, beneficial knowledge, a righteous child), he argues the sharpest move is consistency: small, repeated good actions outweigh one large gesture, because God rewards the continuously charitable far beyond the amount given.

Key takeaways

  • Legacy in Islam is not about fame or wealth but the ongoing, continuous benefit you leave for others after you are gone.
  • The three deeds that keep counting after death are continuous charity, beneficial knowledge, and a righteous child who prays for you.
  • The Prophet's enduring legacy came from his character and compassion, like calmly advising rather than shaming the man who urinated in the mosque.
  • Share knowledge instead of hoarding it, because beneficial knowledge creates a ripple effect that keeps rewarding you long after you teach it.
  • Small consistent charity beats a single large gift, because God rewards being continuously charitable, not just the total amount given.

Legacy isn't just about what you achieve, it's about the ongoing continuous benefit that you leave for others after you.

Ibrahim Shareef

Three continuous small actions is much better than a lot that is not. The amounts can be the same, but the rewards can be the difference between the heaven and the earth.

Ibrahim Shareef

Full transcript

Alum hi everybody and a warm welcome to the Baraka blueprint podcast this is the podcast where we align faith and focus to achieve success that truly lasts I'm your host Ibrahim and today we'll be talking about a topic that is greater than ourselves which is building a legacy basically what does it mean to leave a lasting impact one that sticks to the people around us long after we're gone I'm a bit tilted no I feel like I'm tilted I think I need to restart this again much better okay let's retake hi everybody and a warm welcome to the Baraka blueprint podcast this is the podcast where you align faith and focus to achieve success that truly lasts I'm your host IIM and today we'll be talking about tackling a topic that is greater than ourselves which is building a legacy building a legacy that truly lasts what does it mean to build a legacy that truly lasts and lasts long after we are gone impacting the people around us or have been around us or people that haven't been around us but have heard about us one that carries Baraka and benefits long after we're gone this isn't really about Fame and wealth it's about purpose and intention it's about meaning it's about intentional living so let's dive into how to build a lasting Legacy as per what God Almighty tells us and in Baraka style so when you hear the term Legacy what is the first thing that comes to your mind so many people think that it's about wealth fame or other tangible things be it achievements or a name for people to remember in Islam however Legacy is something much deeper so Legacy isn't just about what you achieve it's about the ongoing continuous benefit that you leave for others after you which is Guided by our IM and our principles our values for example the prophet sallallahu alai wasam talks about a couple of points which is uh the Hadith where he mentions that the actions or the benefits and the hassat the rewards that a person attains after their death they stop except from a couple of sources now one of them here is a continuous charity so for example a person giving charity to building a Masjid building a mosque or building an orphanage or building a school and long after this person's death people attend that school or attend that hospital or attend that orphanage or attend that Masjid and praying in that Masjid and take benefit from that particular artifact or for example beneficial knowledge so what he mentioned here knowledge that is beneficial to people after him and a righteous child that uh calls out to God and makes Dua to God for their parents now that is the Islamic textbook definition of leaving a legacy and our entire episode is going to be Revol around these points Allah subhana wa tala also says in the 30 chapter of the Quran in he says indeed we record that which they sent before and we record their Footprints so Allah subhanahu wa tala leaves nothing behind everything is recorded everything that you have done will stay the effect of that will stay the question is is it going to be good or is it going to be bad are you going to be leaving a positive footprint or a negative footprint will you leave a beneficial one or a harmful one so the question is how can we ensure that the footprints we leave behind us are meaningful and barul and the best example that we can take is that from the prophet sallu alaihi wasallam and his legacy because his legacy was Timeless is timeless it stays with us until today it affects generations and generations and generations billions and billions and billions of people throughout time generation after generation era after era his legacy remains Timeless and it is directly Incorporated to his mannerisms for example it was it was said about him his mannerisms his ethics his morals were the Quran he was a walking Quran the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam as a leader who should be thinking about his immediate community did not just limit his thinking and his caring for his immediate Community only thought about how the decisions and what steps would affect the generations to come for example when he sent mu jabel to Yemen for that particular dawa it wasn't just about spreading an Empire it was about ensuring and steading the growth for the future generation of Muslims which says a lot about his vision and his compassion is nothing short to discuss either it is something that we can spend hours and hours and hours and we wouldn't even have covered the surface when we speak about the compassion of the Prophet sallallahu alai and speaking of his compassion a perfect example of that is how he handled the bedin that urinated in the mid now imagine this like urinating in a holy Place how would people react and especially I'm talking to you the Muslim listener seeing somebody urinate in your Masid now how would you react I know for a fact that I wouldn't handle it very well yes we hear about the stories from from the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam but realistically speaking and for us today I'm not sure that we would take that as lightly and as compassionately as the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did because what he did was first of all he said let him finish and then advised that particular person that they compassionately and calmly that this is a place of worship we don't do that here so despite the man disrespecting a place of worship a holy place the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam made sure that this person felt respected which in itself left a legacy an impactful Legacy of profound wisdom and merciful compassion another point to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam Legacy is his IM his faith for example the hardships that he had to endure during the boycott from the people of qurr in Mecca which ultimately led to the death of his very closest family members or the harsh treatment that he received in when he was doing his da and that steadfastness continues to inspire us today for example when it comes to the people of where he actually had the choice by sent angels from God that they could wipe the place from from the face of the Earth and instead from his again relating to his compassion saying leave them be for there may come a further a future generation that are actually inspired by this message which turned out to be the case so what we should be asking ourselves really is what lessons can we take from the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam Legacy and how can we apply them in our day-to-day lives and building a legacy starts with small actionable items and time specific and you don't have to be a scholar or a millionaire to leave an impactful result or effect number one focus on ongoing Deeds or deeds that continue to leave an impact after your death again referencing the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam that a person's Deeds or good deeds will stop counting for him except for three things ongoing continuous charity a charity project that you subscribe to for let's say building Aid or even that one donation even that can be sufficient for you or donating for building a water well for uh people to be able to extract drinking water from and drinking water charity is one of the best forms of Charity water is one of the best forms of Charity um knowledge that can be beneficial to other people firstly to you and then to other people after you and then righteous Offspring or children that make Dua for you this takes us to our practical tips so tip number one focus on whatever knowledge you're attaining and getting for yourself focus on sharing the knowledge don't be one of The Gatekeepers or those that hoard the knowledge for themselves share it with people be it mentoring someone or just sharing a skill that you learned that was that turned out to be beneficial for you because like they say sharing is caring if you happen to be a content creator or skill in that field create content that can Inspire or benefit people and remember the ripple effect or the domino effect that is Created from the sharing of beneficial knowledge practical tip number two invest in in projects that are directly tied to SAR or the concept ofar continuous charity like building a Masjid building a water well contributing to building an orphanage schools and the list goes on one of the people that Allah subhana T praises the most in the Quran and that praises the most in the authentic narrations are people who are charitable furthermore it is also a Divine promise that charity will never decrease your wealth he says a person's charity will never decrease their wealth not only does it not decrease your material wealth it will surely multi- increase your afterlife wealth for your hassat your good deeds practical tip number three to those of you who are our parents upand cominging parents I'm not one make sure to raise righteous children raise them within the Frameworks that God Almighty has set for us and children is one's Legacy or form of Legacy and the values you instill and install within them will continue to impact the world long after we're gone and finally it's important to reflect on our life and reflect on our own legacy what are we living by what are we living after and what are we leaving behind it's about asking the hard questions to truly understand one's stands and status for example let's ask ourselves suppose we die tomorrow or tonight even cuz one can die whenever what will people remember us by and what value did we even leave behind did we leave enough value behind and and is there something actionable that we can take to help install a forming beneficial Legacy in my case I'll be very honest I don't have much and this is a question that I should be asking myself continuously time after time I think or I guess one way of addressing this or one way of leaving a lasting impact is by producing something like this the Baraka blueprint sharing some things that I have learned myself that I have gone through maybe it leaves an an impact maybe it leaves a beneficial point or piece of information for you because ultimately the actions are by the intentions I know for a fact what intention I have with this project and I actually feel the benefit from it alhamdulillah I feel very much alive doing something like this and what I'm trying to say with that is find your Niche find that one thing that helps install some sort of beneficial value for you and three continuous small actions is much better than a lot that is not I feel like it's something we've discussed before small consistent continuous actions are always the best for example giving a lot of money for sodak you have done a tremendously fantastic wonderful action provided that your intention is correct and not for boasting a bragging only that will give you the reward of the one charity but so like for example let's say you're giving a charity of100 or $100 or 100 Dirham or whatever insert your currency right but if you give 10ll whatever it is consistently every Friday let's say every single week 10 or five even you're not only getting the reward for what you have given because ultimately after 10 weeks 10 Duram each week would be 10 would be 100 Dam which would be as much as you given that one time you will be rewarded for the continuous action you're not only the person who gave you are from that Allah subhah waala compliments and Praises in the Quran those who are continuously charitable there's a difference between giving charity and being rewarded by charity and being continuously charitable the amounts mathematically can be the one and the same that is not a problem however the rewards can be the difference between the Heaven and the Earth so may Allah subhana wa tala make us among those that are continuous in their righteous actions and help us form our righteousness in this life to attain the benefits of the coming life thank you so much for joining in on the Baraka blueprint podcast if you like what you've seen depending on whatever platform you're looking at please leave a follow a like a subscription uh if you found this beneficial please share it with your friends and family so that you are also part of this continuous spreading of knowledge and the spreading charity and and so that this will count for you as a because or continuous charity is not only about the monetary value it is about the metaphysical value or the knowledge value behind it and may Allah subhana allow us to create Footprints and leave footprints that lead us all the way to until next time stay productive stay purposeful stay focused stay faithful and style

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