Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem
Dunya
comes with innumerable dangers and diversions, and it also comes in many
disguises - which easily lead to Haraam and the destruction of a person. Often
a person does not even realise he has fallen into a trap of Dunya because the
traps of Dunya are in various camouflages.
If a
person makes use of this world to earn the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala and to earn
the Hereafter, he has understood his purpose and is fulfilling his objective of
life.
Unfortunately,
we leave our hearts unattended and this opens the doors to negligence in Dien
and Love for Dunya. Instead of earning the Hereafter, we obsess over earning and accumulating this world; and instead of seeking Allah Ta’ala’s Pleasure, we expend ourselves
in satisfying the whims and fancies of nafs.
Our
Sheikh, Hadhrat Moulana Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Saheb (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh) had
said that the absolute minimum amount of love for Allah Ta’ala is 51% in the
heart – that is, against the love for anything else.
The
love of Ghayrullah[1] in the
heart should not exceed 49%. To love anything else more than Allah Ta’ala, is
Haraam (forbidden).
Of
course, we should never be content with a just 51% of Love for Allah Ta’ala. We
must endeavour to keep on increasing our love for Allah Ta’ala and we should
strive for 100%.
Allah
Ta’ala states:
وَالَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْٓا
أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلّٰهِ ط
“…And those who have Imaan are more intense
in their
love
for Allah…”
[Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 165]
For
some special servants, even 1% of Ghayrullah in the heart is not permitted.
DUNYA-DAAR &
MAAL-DAAR
Often,
people assume that every wealthy person is Dunya-Daar[2].
This is a misnomer and we should understand the difference between being
Maal-daar (wealthy) and Dunya-daar. The former is permissible, whilst the
latter is Haraam. A person can be poor and Dunya-daar and a person can be rich
(maal-daar) as well as Diendar! In all cases, whether rich or poor, a person
must be Diendaar[3].
Mufti
Mahmood Hasan Saheb (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh) had narrated an incident of a poor
Buzurg, who was considered pious, more so because of his poverty. He was on his
way for Hajj when he met a friend, who was a very wealthy Buzurg, who was not
really regarded as a Buzurg due to his wealth!
The
poor Buzurg invited him to accompany him for Hajj, and the friend immediately
got ready and joined him. Enroute, when they stopped for Salaah, the poor
Buzurg realised that he left his lota (jug) for Wudhu behind. He was very
agitated, restless and worried. The second Buzurg said to him: “I left my mansion and riches without any
thought, and you are so distressed about one lota?!”
Despite
having so much of Dunya, the wealthy Buzurg had no attachment with his wealth
that would make him restless in his separation from it. This made evident his
Ta-alluq with Allah Ta’ala and his Tawakkul in Allah Ta’ala. The lota was a small
material commodity, yet the first person was restless and anxious when he
realised it was not with him – which made apparent that his gaze and attention
was on worldly goods and not on Allah Ta’ala.
May
Allah Ta’ala make us Dien-Daar no matter what our worldly positions are!
So a
person can be wealthy and prosperous and be free from the vestiges of Hubbud
Dunya (the love of the world). It is really Allah Ta’ala’s Fadhl if a person
reaches that stage where he is able to recognise the deception and reality of Dunya, disentangle himself from it and keep aloof of its
temptations.
"In
this World they resided - yet devoid of worldly ties.
In
its Oceans they have been submerged - yet no wetness touched their clothes."
Such
a person can have a ten million cheque in his top pocket, right next to his
heart and that amount of money will not have any effect on his heart. Because
his heart is saturated with Allah Ta’ala’s Love and brightened with His
Ma’rifat.
Knowing
and experiencing this sweetness and this Noor, the person is able to
distinguish and recognise the bitterness and darkness of Dunya’s love and he endeavours
to protect himself from it.
...On
one occasion, while Imam Abu Hanifa (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh) was teaching his
students, a person came and informed him that a ship carrying a huge quantity
of his merchandise had sunk. Imam Abu Hanifa (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh) lowered his
gaze towards his heart, reflected awhile and said: “Alhamdulillah”. He then continued with his discussion. After some
time, the same person returned and reported that the earlier information was false.
The ship carrying his merchandise was safe. Again, Imam Abu Hanifa
(Rahmatullahi ‘alayh) looked towards his heart, reflected awhile and said: “Alhamdulillah”.
He
then resumed the lesson. Later, he was asked about his actions when he was given information about his merchandise.
Imam Abu Hanifa (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh)
said: “When I heard that the ship had
sunk, I checked the condition of my heart – to see if it was agitated and
distressed upon the news of the loss of so much of wealth. Since there was
Ridha-bil-Qadha[4] and acceptance of Allah Ta’ala’s Will and the tranquility of my
heart was not disturbed, I said: “Alhamdulillah”. When I was informed that the
news was incorrect, and that the ship was, in fact, safe, I again checked the
condition of my heart and found that even that information did not affect my
heart, and thus said: “Alhamdulillah.”
This
should be the condition of the heart of the Believer in respect to the material
world. We should endeavour to keep our hearts detached from Dunya.
ROOT OF ALL EVIL
Hadhrat
Moulana Jalaluddeen Rumi (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh) had presented the analogy of a
ship on the waters of the ocean. So long as the water is outside, the ship is
afloat and sails towards its destination. The moment water enters the ship, the
ship sinks.
Similarly,
living in this world, we make use of the world to reach the Hereafter. This
worldly life is to accumulate the provisions for our journey ahead and for our
destination – Jannah, Insha-Allah.
However,
when the love of the world enters the heart, it begins to sink in the
disobedience of Allah Ta’ala. Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: “The
love of the world is the root of all evil”[5]
The
person becomes involved with accumulating the commodities of Dunya instead of the
provisions for Aakhirah. The person’s greed for Dunya increases and leads to
Ghaflat (heedlessness) and more sins: gambling, stealing, fraud, embezzlement,
jealousy, rivalry, enmity, and so forth.
The
love of Dunya then consumes the person to such an extent that the person is averse to
leave this world. He hates death because he has invested everything of himself
in this world – and has sent nothing ahead of him, to look forward to.
Hubbud-Dunya[6]
is a major sin and is a very, very common trait in the Ummah. It has, in fact, not
only led to the destruction of the individual, but it has been a key factor in
the ruin and disunity of the Ummah at large – until we find ourselves in this
day and age, where we are living the Hadith of Rasulullah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi
wasallam) who described us as the froth on the ocean’s water – which holds no
value.
Rasullullah
(Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: "The
People will soon summon one another to attack you as people, when eating,
invite others to share their food."
Someone
asked, "Will that be because of our
small numbers at that time?"
He
replied, "No, you will be numerous
at that time: but you will be froth and
scum like that carried down by a torrent (of water), and Allah will remove the
fear of you from the hearts of your enemy and cast Al-Wahn into your
hearts."
Someone
asked, "O Messenger of Allah, what
is Al-Wahn?" He replied, "Love
of the world and dislike of death."[7]
No
one is advocating that the world be abandoned and discarded. …So long as we are
living in this world, we have no choice but to make use of it. However, there
should not be any strong attachment and obsessive love – which would inevitably
alienate us from Allah Ta’ala. This is what is disapproved and denounced.
REMEDY
To
remedy this sickness of Hubbud Dunya, we should ponder over the reality of this
worldly life. Every single thing comes with an expiry date – including
ourselves. There will be separation, and one day, we will be entering the grave
– and the only thing which will be of value to us will be our Imaan and our
good deeds.
We find in the Ahadith,
an incident narrated where Rasulullah (Sallallaahu
’alayhi wasallam) passed by the market place and passed by a
dead kid goat (i.e. a baby goat) which had very short ears. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ’alayhi wasallam) held
it by its ears and said: "Who amongst you would like to have this
for a Dirham[8]?"
The Sahabah (Radhiyallahu
‘anhum) said: “We would not want it even for less than that! What can we do with it?”
He (Sallallaahu ’alayhi wasallam) said: "Do
you wish to have it for any price?"
They said: “By
Allah, even if it were alive it, we would not want it, as it has very short
ears, let alone now when it is also dead!”
Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ’alayhi wasallam) said: "By
Allah, this world is more insignificant to Allah than this (dead goat) is to
you all."[9]
Hafez Ibn al-Qayyim (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh)
advised that we inculcate the love of Allah Ta’ala by pondering over His signs,
His blessings, His Kindness, His perfection, and His Grandeur and Loftiness.
And explained that Allah Ta’ala designed the heart to love Him; so if we love
Him, it becomes extremely easy to abandon sins – including this sin of Hubbud
Dunya.
Reading
about Jannah and the wonderful bounties of Jannah will also create desire in
the heart for Jannah. This will then result in a person working towards
building his Jannah and he will realise that this world is a station on his
journey home, Insha-Allah.
Rasulullah
(Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: “What relationship do I have with this
world? I am in this world like a rider who halts in the shade of a tree for a
short time, and after taking some rest, resumes his journey leaving the tree
behind.”[10]
Connect
with Allah Ta’ala before you return to Him. Connect with the Hereafter before
you return to it.
How
beautifully Allah Ta’ala reminds and cautions us:
“You
prefer the worldly life (to the Hereafter), whereas the hereafter is best and
ever-lasting.”
[Surah
al-A'la : 16-17]
May Allah Ta’ala grant us
the understanding, the Taufeeq of Amal and may Allah Ta'ala purify our hearts of all traces of
Hubbud Dunya and all spiritual maladies.
Hadhrat Moulana Abdul Hamid Is`haq Saheb (Daamat Barakaatuhum)
[1] Everything other than Allah Ta’ala
[2] Dunya-Daar: worldly person / lover of the material
world / seeker of the material world.
[3] Dien-Daar : love of Dien
[4] Ridha-bil-Qadha: Contentment with the divine decree
[5] Mishkaat
[6] Hubbud-Dunya : Love for the world
[7] Abu Dawood and Ahmad
[8] Dirham : Silver coin
[9] Sahih Muslim
[10] Ahmad / Tirmidhi
