BADTASTEBEARS
Fear Allah
Assalamualaikum!
The life of this world.
Its allures, its glitter, its glamour, its fortune, its absolutely deceptive illusions.
Now why would I want to post of something which is already so intertwined in us? The television shows, the football, the movies, the music, the computer games. Aren't we fed up already? Aren't we bored already? Aren't we sick and tired already? The thing is, we aren't - and we will never be until death stares us in the face.
Little wonder then that the Prophet (saw) called it the Ender of Pleasures.
A hadith related from Ibn Asakir that the Prophet (saw) said: "Work for the dunya as if you were to live forever and work for the akhirah as if you were to die tomorrow."
We've heard this hadith often enough. Somehow, we justify to ourselves that: "Hey, the Prophet (saw) said that it's alright to plan for this world as if we're going to live forever." And so we go on busying ourselves with the affairs of this world 'like we're going to live forever.'
Wait a sec, just wait a sec.
Did you read the second part of the hadith? You did read it didn't you? Or maybe the thought of 'living forever' somehow blinded us to what the Prophet (saw) said after that?
Let me state it again: "...work for the akhirah as if you were to die tomorrow."
Now let me get this straight, would you be busy with amassing wealth 'like you're gonna live forever' when you know you're gonna die tomorrow?
Puts it into perspective doesn't it?
Think for ourselves: what would we be doing if we knew that the Angel of Death would be paying us a visit tomorrow? Planning our next vacation? Scheduling a project meeting? Fishing for a new client?
No! Absolutely not!
If we knew Izrail would be knocking on our door, food wouldn't satiate us, drink wouldn't quench us, sleep wouldn't rejuvenate us and laughing wouldn't cheer us!
We would be on our prayer mats, facing the qibla, bowing, prostrating, weeping till our voices become hoarse, begging and pleading with the Lord the of Mighty Throne to forgive us and accept us as His righteous servants!
We would even be fasting that day!
But, what are we doing ... ? Still we seek the dunya, still we get attracted to it, still we devote most of our time to it. We even try to justify our actions. We do all this and yet we know we may not live tomorrow.
Before I end with what the Prophet (saw) said regarding this world, let me just state for a fact that the hadith I wrote above isn't exactly the right interpretation - but this is how most of us have read it. In fact, the true, traditional interpretation of that hadith goes: "Work for the dunya without haste and work for the akhirah with great urgency." This I've gathered from Imam al-Haddad's (may Allah Jalla Jallaluh raise his degree) The Lives of Man.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what the Prophet (saw) said regarding the dunya, as narrated by Imam Bukhari:
"What have I to do with this world? The likeness of myself and the world is that of a rider travelling on a summer day, who found a tree, rested underneath it awhile, then went on, leaving it behind."
Let us then treat this world as merely a stopover, a transit, to a better and everlasting destination - the Gardens underneath which rivers flow. Let us ensure we bring provisions to enter it.
May Allah remove the love of this world from our hearts.
The life of this world.
Its allures, its glitter, its glamour, its fortune, its absolutely deceptive illusions.
Now why would I want to post of something which is already so intertwined in us? The television shows, the football, the movies, the music, the computer games. Aren't we fed up already? Aren't we bored already? Aren't we sick and tired already? The thing is, we aren't - and we will never be until death stares us in the face.
Little wonder then that the Prophet (saw) called it the Ender of Pleasures.
A hadith related from Ibn Asakir that the Prophet (saw) said: "Work for the dunya as if you were to live forever and work for the akhirah as if you were to die tomorrow."
We've heard this hadith often enough. Somehow, we justify to ourselves that: "Hey, the Prophet (saw) said that it's alright to plan for this world as if we're going to live forever." And so we go on busying ourselves with the affairs of this world 'like we're going to live forever.'
Wait a sec, just wait a sec.
Did you read the second part of the hadith? You did read it didn't you? Or maybe the thought of 'living forever' somehow blinded us to what the Prophet (saw) said after that?
Let me state it again: "...work for the akhirah as if you were to die tomorrow."
Now let me get this straight, would you be busy with amassing wealth 'like you're gonna live forever' when you know you're gonna die tomorrow?
Puts it into perspective doesn't it?
Think for ourselves: what would we be doing if we knew that the Angel of Death would be paying us a visit tomorrow? Planning our next vacation? Scheduling a project meeting? Fishing for a new client?
No! Absolutely not!
If we knew Izrail would be knocking on our door, food wouldn't satiate us, drink wouldn't quench us, sleep wouldn't rejuvenate us and laughing wouldn't cheer us!
We would be on our prayer mats, facing the qibla, bowing, prostrating, weeping till our voices become hoarse, begging and pleading with the Lord the of Mighty Throne to forgive us and accept us as His righteous servants!
We would even be fasting that day!
But, what are we doing ... ? Still we seek the dunya, still we get attracted to it, still we devote most of our time to it. We even try to justify our actions. We do all this and yet we know we may not live tomorrow.
Before I end with what the Prophet (saw) said regarding this world, let me just state for a fact that the hadith I wrote above isn't exactly the right interpretation - but this is how most of us have read it. In fact, the true, traditional interpretation of that hadith goes: "Work for the dunya without haste and work for the akhirah with great urgency." This I've gathered from Imam al-Haddad's (may Allah Jalla Jallaluh raise his degree) The Lives of Man.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what the Prophet (saw) said regarding the dunya, as narrated by Imam Bukhari:
"What have I to do with this world? The likeness of myself and the world is that of a rider travelling on a summer day, who found a tree, rested underneath it awhile, then went on, leaving it behind."
Let us then treat this world as merely a stopover, a transit, to a better and everlasting destination - the Gardens underneath which rivers flow. Let us ensure we bring provisions to enter it.
May Allah remove the love of this world from our hearts.
for your post.Ameen to your duas.We should remember death as often as possible and contemplate as to how we would like our last moment of life to be.Would we be able to recite kalima?Would we die with hope of hereafter in our hearts?This topic torments me a lot.It's really important that we take out the love of this world from our hearts.Since I have heard pangs of death are really painful,one would not want to clinge to this world at the time of death.It would increase the pain.The Prophet 
said 3 days before he left us,"Let none of you die except with a good hope from Allah",or something similar to this.So it's really important to plan the last moment of our lives now.We never know how suddenly death might overtake us and we don't have enough time to repent.