Part 28

This world is like that, so do not consider it a permanent residence."108 So we should live in this world like strangers or travellers. No matter how much wealth or treasure we accumulate in it and no matter how long we indulge in its pleasures and attractions, it will eventually come to an end. Allah says: 106 al-Bukhari, 6416; Al-Bayhaqi, 3 / 369; Ibn al-Mubarak in Az-Zuhd, 13; Al-Baghawi, 4029; Al-Qudha'i in Musnad ash-Shihab, 644; Ibn Hibban, 298. 107 Ahmed, 1 / 391; Al-Tirmidhi, 2377, who classified it as hasan sahih; and Ibn Majah. 108 Ahmed in Az-Zuhd, p. 93. ( Know that the life of the dunya is merely a game and a diversion and ostentation and a cause of boasting among yourselves and trying to outdo one another in wealth and children: like the plant-growth after rain which delights the cultivators, but then it withers and you see it turning yellow, and then it becomes broken stubble. ) (57: 19) So the enjoyment and pleasures of this world are only illusory and deceptive and its beauty is ephemeral and unreal. Allah says: ( The life of the dunya is just the enjoyment of delusion. ) (3: 185) The enjoyment of this world, compared to that of the next world, is short — and life is passing, so the first thing for a righteous person to do is to be liberated from being preoccupied by it. Allah says: ( Say, "The enjoyment of the dunya is very brief. The akhira is better for those who have taqwa. ) (4: 76) And: ( Are you happier with the dunya than the akhira? Yet the enjoyment of the dunya is very small compared to that of the akhira.) (9: 38) And: ( They rejoice in the life of the dunya. Yet the life of the dunya, compared to the akhira, is only fleeting enjoyment. ) (13: 27) So Allah it warns His slaves against its trials and temptations and He it says: ( So do not let the life of the dunya delude you and do not let the Deluder delude you concerning Allah. ) (31:32) The Deluder is Shaytan. He tries to make us forget that time is fleeting and to delude us by suggesting that the Reckoning will not come — whereas it is certain to come, because Allah's promise is true. We must not play with time, nor be deceived by appearances. That Day may come today or tomorrow or when we least expect it. Allah reminds His servants about His true promise — which we have a tendency to turn away from and ignore, because of the world's pleasures and temptations. The seductive attractiveness of this world may deceive us into forgetting the next world. He says: ( Mankind! Allah's promise is true. Do not let not the life of the dunya delude you and do not let the Deluder delude you about Allah. ) (35: 5) So a wise man does not prefer the life of this world to that of the next world. Allah says: ( Yet still you prefer the life of the dunya when the akhira is better and longer lasting. ) (87: 16-17) You should know that the best of the life of this world cannot really be attained unless you strive hard for the best of the life of the next world. Allah says: ( Anyone who acts rightly, male or female, being a mumin, We will give them a good life and We will recompense them according to the best of what they did. ) (16: 97) All of us are strangers in a temporary abode which is completely unlike the abode of the next world — which is for ever, so strive hard to be one of the people of the eternal abode. When Adam was created, he was ordered to dwell with his wife in Paradise — and then they were expelled from it — and then they were promised a return to it, together with their righteous descendants. This is why true believers always yearn to return to their original homeland which is Paradise. Love for your homeland is a sign of your belief. The gates of the Garden are open wide, and each gate calls on you to follow a path of good action and righteousness so that you may enter through that gate. Abu Hurairah related that the Messenger of Allah said, "Whoever hands over two of any kind of property in the Way of Allah is called to the Garden with the words, 'O slave of Allah! This is good!' Whoever is from among the people of salah is called from the Gate of salah. Whoever is from among the people of jihad is called from the Gate of Jihad. Whoever is from among the people of sadaqa is called from the Gate of Sadaqa. Whoever is from among the people of fasting is called from the Gate of the Well-Watered (Bab arRayyan)." Abu Bakr as-Siddiq said, "O Messenger of Allah! Is it necessary that someone be called from only one of these gates?