(55) Chapter: Excellence of Leading an Ascetic Life, and Virtues of Simple Life

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Three (things) follow a dead person: Members of his family, his property and his deeds. Two of them return; and one remains with him. The people and his wealth return; his deeds remain with him".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Commentary: This Hadith has a warning for the Muslims that they should adopt the way of piety and fear (of Allah), not of sin and impiety because those are actions which will go with him to the grave and which decide his fate in the life after death. If he carries with him good deeds, he will have a comfortable sojourn in Barzakh (the intervening stage between death and Resurrection). On the contrary, if the record of his life is devoid of good deeds, all the wealth that he leaves behind, even if it is beyond calculation, will be of no avail to him because what he will be having with him will be the bad deeds which he performed during his life. These bad deeds will be a constant source of torture for him during his stay in Barzakh.