The Spirit of Islam

happiness. Eating oneself is commonplace, while giving food to others is living on a high level of humanity. DO ACTS WHICH BENEFIT PEOPLE EVEN AFTER YOUR DEATH In giving to others one finds even more for oneself. Establishing an environment of human oneness is indeed a great service to humanity. A ccording to a tradition, the Prophet once observed: “When a person plants a tree and then he dies and this tree grows and bears fruit which human beings and birds eat, then this will be a continuous form of charity so long as the creatures of God keep benefiting from it.” (Musnad Ahmad 15616) Being of use or being helpful is an immutable principle in Islam. It is called continuous charity. This means that when a person does something good which benefits others, for instance, he plants a tree or builds a bridge and then he dies but his work is still extant