The most encouraging part of the day was who did the planting. Hundreds of schoolchildren from nearby schools joined the drive, received saplings of their own and were shown how to plant and care for them at home. Those children will watch their trees grow alongside them, which is the surest way to build a generation that treats the environment as a responsibility rather than an afterthought.
Why is planting a tree Sadaqah Jariyah?
Sadaqah Jariyah is an ongoing charity. It is the rare kind of giving that does not stop when the donation is spent, because the thing you funded keeps serving people year after year.
When a person dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity (Sadaqah Jariyah), beneficial knowledge, and a righteous child who prays for him.
Sahih Muslim
A tree meets that description perfectly. It gives shade to travellers, fruit to families, nesting places to birds, clean air to a whole neighbourhood and stability to soil that would otherwise wash away. Every one of those benefits is recorded as charity for the person who planted it, and every one of them continues for decades. Few donations of any size work this hard for this long.
Plant your own Sadaqah Jariyah today
You do not need to travel to Mianwali or Gaza to take part. You can fund a tree from wherever you are, in someone else’s name if you wish, whether in memory of a parent, as a gift for a new baby, or simply as an investment in your own akhirah.
Give an ongoing charity
