Is doing a Sadaqa Jariya for yourself selfish?

No. Making a Sadaqa Jariya with the intention for yourself is perfectly accepted, and it is in fact the most common case. What matters is not who the intention is for, but what the gesture really produces for others.

The question comes up often, and it is a healthy one: it shows that you are questioning your own motives.

What the gesture changes for others

A planted tree feeds the same people, employs the same teams and produces for the same length of time, whether the intention is for you, for a parent or for someone who has died.

The intention changes nothing about the concrete effect. It only says who the gesture is dedicated to.

Where the problem begins

The difficulty is not doing something for yourself. It is doing something to be seen.

These are not the same thing. Giving while hoping for good for yourself is still giving. Giving so that others know about it turns the gesture into something else. That is the line that deserves attention, not the one about who the intention is for.

A simple test

One question often settles it: would I do this if nobody were ever to find out?

If the answer is yes, the intention is probably in the right place. If the answer is no, it does not mean you should not do it; it means there is something in yourself to adjust.

The most common case

Many people make the gesture for themselves and, at the same time, for someone close. A tree for themselves, one for a parent. Nothing stands in the way of that, and it is not a way of making up for something.

Others start with themselves, then gradually extend it to their family once they have seen what the gesture concretely produces.

What is better not to do

Paralysing yourself by constantly questioning the purity of your intention. It is a classic trap: by trying too hard to be beyond reproach, you end up doing nothing at all.

Intention is worked on by acting, not by waiting to be perfect. A tree planted with an imperfect intention still grows, and still feeds people.