"O young man, we are captured by the charms of this world and happen to indulge in the worldly affairs so much that we forget our main obligation and ultimate destination." said the old man to the young wayfarer, as the swan continued her story. Then the old man said, "When you contemplate how eager the people of this life are to live and enjoy it, and strive hard with delight to collect its temporary possessions, you feel amazed and astonished. Do they consider this life the ultimate goal and the only life to live? They act as if they were created to collect material possessions and strive hard to earn life’s riches. They have forgotten a Day during which they will go back to Allah. Allah said describing this life,
"Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children - like the example of a rain whose [resulting] plant growth pleases the tillers; then it dries and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes [scattered] debris. And in the Hereafter is severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and approval. And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion." - [QS.57:20]Prophet Musa, alayhissalam, said to his people,
"O my people, this worldly life is only [temporary] enjoyment, and indeed, the Hereafter - that is the home of [permanent] settlement." - [QS.40:39]The Prophet (ﷺ) cautioned his Companions about the world and its colourful life, and encouraged them to think of the Hereafter.
lbn Khazimah has transmitted that Abu Sa'eed AI-Khudri, radhiyallahu 'anhu, has said that one day, the Prophet (ﷺ) delivered a lengthy sermon, overing the affairs of the world and the Hereafter. He (ﷺ) also said, "Surely the first thing that destroyed the Bani lsra'il was the affair of the poor and needy women who were very particular about clothes and colours. They wore such colourful clothes which only the wealthy women could afford.The Prophet (ﷺ) advised the Sahaba to refrain from doing what the Children of Israel did and destroyed themselves. He traced for them the roots and beginings of destruction of Bani Israel. The beginnings of their destruction lay in their wealthy people adopting a highly ambitious life in matters of dress, personal adornment and eating and drinking. They spent lavishly on these things. The poor people were impressed by the standard of the rich, and their wives vied with them and tried to do as the rich women did. This burdened the poor men considerably.
He (ﷺ) then mentioned a woman of Bani Israel who was short-statured. She got for herself with wooden sandals (to conceal her short stature) and had made for herself a ring with an opening which was locked from the top. She filled it with musk. She then walked with tall or fat women. The people sent a man behind them and he recognised the tall women but not the one with wooden sandals. - [Sahih Muslim and Ahmad]
We see the same thing in our societies today. In trying to imitate the rich, the poor people are weakening themselves considerably and putting themselves in heavy debts, adding to their worries. Man is occupied in a pretentious life, setting for himself false standards and although he has amassed many means of comfort, he is not content or happy. The example in the narration is one of these. The short-statured woman, consious of her short height tried to make herself conspicuous by wearing special wooden sandals which added to her height, and using musk to spread fragrance around herself. She used a golden ring prominently in which she filled musk and jerked it now and then to let out the smell. People did recognise the women with her but failed to recognise her.
The Prophet (ﷺ) pointed out by narrating this story that one must not live in a showy manner and not adopt airs and artificial ways of living. These things make him forget the purpose of his life and cause him to neglect good and righteous deeds. Islam advocates a simple living and a clear thinking.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said,
"There are two bounties that many people lose [by not taking full advantage of them]: health and fee time." - [Sahih al-Bukhari]The hadith describes a person who has sold something or given something up for less than what it is worth. Free time and health are like one's capital. If one uses them properly by using them in obedience to Allah, one can make a great deal of profit. If one does not use them properly, by forgetting about Allah or disobeying Allah, he will then face losses.
In another hadith, the Prophet (ﷺ) stated,
"Take advantage of fve before [another] fve occur: Your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your wealth before your poverty, your fee time before your preoccupation, your life before your death." - [Al-Haakim and Ahmad]Allah has given humanity ample means and opportunity to perform good deeds. These means include health, youthful energy, wealth, free time and, in fact, life in itself. However, with respect to the first four, Allah usually does not give them to an individual throughout his entire life span. This is the fact of which the Prophet (ﷺ) is reminding us, since these means may not be with a person throughout his entire life, he must take advantage of them and use them for his beneft in the Hereafer while he has them.
Wealth is one of the greatest trials facing man. As Allah says,
"And know that your properties and your children are but a trial and that Allah has with Him a great reward." - [QS.8:28]The Prophet (ﷺ) also said,
"Verily, for every nation there is a fitnah (trial and temptation). And the fitnah of my nation is wealth." - [Jami' al-Tirmidhi and al-Haakim]Allah indicates how wealth may divert one's attention from the matter of most importance, the remembrance and worship of Allah. The Prophet (ﷺ) also said,
"Verily, those who have the most (wealth) will be the ones with least on the Day of Resurrection except for the one who says, 'This is for that, this is for that and this is for that (in other words, he gives the wealth away for good causes)."' - [Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim]In general, gathering a lot of wealth in this world takes up a lot of time and effort. Those who gather such wealth are spending much of their time in such worldly matters and, hence, they do not have much time to spend for matters of the next world. Unless they use that wealth in good ways before Allah takes it fom them, they will be among the people with the least on the Day of Judgment.
Amirul Mukminin, 'Ali ibn Abi Thalib, radhiyallahu 'anhu, said,
"Whoever has six qualities, will leave no path to Paradise and away fom the Fire, but will have taken it. They are, he knows Allah and obeys Him; he knows the devil and disobeys him; he knows Truth and fllows it; he knows Falsehood and stays away fom it; he knows life and avoids it; he knows the Hereafter and seeks it."In this context, we understand this wisdom from Al-Fudail bin 'Iyad,
"Entering this life is easy, but departing from it, is very hard. Yes, departing this life pertains to stopping breathing and experiencing hard moments during which the soul is taken out of its body. And even if the moment of death is easy, and it is not easy, running after the facades of this life and acquiring its riches still bring depression and confusion. Therefore, be among the people of the Hereafter and do not be among the pople of this life."The Quran describes people who do not realize their mistake of not giving for the sake of Allah and using their wealth in the proper way until it is too late. Allah says,
"And spend [in the way of Allah ] from what We have provided you before death approaches one of you and he says, 'My Rabb, if only You would delay me for a brief term so I would give charity and be among the righteous.' But never will Allah delay a soul when its time has come. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do." - [QS.63:10-11]Muhammad bin Abu ‘Imran said,
“A man asked Hatim Al-Asamm, ‘What is the foundation of your firm trust in Allah?’ Hatim said, ‘Four qualities: I knew that my sustenance would not be eaten by anyone other than I, so my heart felt secure. I knew that others would not perform my righteous work, so I am busy performing it. I knew that death comes all of a sudden, so I rush to fulfill my religious duty before it strikes. I knew that I will never be absent from Allah’s Eye, wherever I may be, so I always feel shy from Him, and so stay away from what He had prohibited."Moreover, Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak said,
“O son of Adam! Prepare for the Hereafter and obey Allah, as much as you need Him, or make Him angry, as much as you can bear the Fire! All praises are due to Allah, we can never sufficiently praise Him as He should be praised, only He can do that Himself. We often disobey Him because of our ignorance and He pardons us with His Mercy.”Free time is also among the important bounties that Allah gives to mankind. It is during a person's free time that he can truly dedicate himself to studying, memorizing the Quran, helping the poor and all sorts of good deeds. The proper use of one's free time is a very important means of gaining Allah's pleasure in the Hereafer. lbn Hajr points out that the one who has free time actually has no excuse for not performing good deeds and improving himself. Such free time will be a proof against him unless he uses it properly.
Abdullah bin Dawud narrated that our Salaf used to sleep a part of the night and then stay up to pray, recite the Qur’an and invoked Allah for forgiveness, so that they spend their life in the best manner and in preparation for their Hereafter. In contrast, people laugh and delight in living, unaware of their approaching fate. They build this life (or their homes) in the path of catastrophic floods; but they ought to rush to perform good deeds before their life ends. They should know that there are those (the angel of death and his angel aids) who count their breaths and prepare to meet them, so why laugh and delight? Abdullah bin Tha‘labah, radhiyallahu 'anhu, said, “Do you laugh, when your shrouds might already have been sewn by the tailor?”
Al-Fudail bin ‘Iyad said about the believer,
Reference :“In this life, the believer feels sadness and grief, directing his attention at taking enough provision for the Hereafter. He who feels like, in this life, then his efforts will be directed at collecting what benefits him when he returns home; he does not compete with the residents of the area where he lives, among whom he is a stranger. He lives in the midst of their might, but it does not grieve him that he is not mighty among them.”Unfortunately, much of modem civilization is dedicated to entertainment, enjoyment, pleasure and sensual gratifcation, as can be seen by the dominance and place of movies, sports, music, art, alcohol and so forth. A Muslim must be careful not to allow this civilization, with all of its supposed fun and glitter, to affect him negatively and allow him to waste his precious time. It is very easy to be taken by the things of this world and to spend all of one's time enjoying and seeking the goods of this world. A Muslim should spend his free time- before he becomes preoccupied with many things later in his life- in ways that are beneficial.
Health is one of the greatest barriers to performing good deeds. Most good deeds require some exertion. If one is sick, temporarily or permanently, he will not find the means to perform many of those good deeds. By Allah's mercy, if a person was doing good deeds and then becomes ill, preventing him fom continuing those good deeds, Allah will continue to reward him for those deeds that he would have done had his illness not kept him from performing them. But if a person was not performing good deeds before his illness, he will not be rewarded for any deeds that he is not now able to perform due to his illness. Hence, his illness will form, no excuse for him as he had demonstrated, when he was healthy, that he was not from those people who performed the good deeds.
Youthfulness is one of the most important times in a person's life. It is a time of strength, energy and zeal. Not only that, it is a time that usually combines many of the other blessings mentioned by the Prophet (ﷺ). It is usually during one's youth that one has the most fee time and fewest responsibilities. It is usually during one's youth that one is at the peak of good health.
It is not unusual in this moder age for people to consider youth a time for fun and enjoyment, up to the age of eighteen, twenty-one, or until they finish college and so forth. Even among Muslims, there is often not much emphasis on inculcating maturity and understanding in the youth. However, this is not the proper Islamic approach. It was the young Companions whom the Prophet (ﷺ) gave some of his most profund statements. According to Islamic law, by the time a person reaches the age of puberty-around thirteen years of age for many people-he is fully responsible for his deeds. Hence, the training, teaching and preparation for that heavy responsibility must take place even before he reaches that age.
A cursory look at the example of the youth brought up under the influence of the Prophet (ﷺ) demonstrates how they put their youth to good use and took advantage of that blessing before Allah took it away fom them. Some of the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ), such as ibn Umar, wanted to participate in the battle of Badr and risk their lives for the sake of Allah, but the Prophet (ﷺ) had to reject them as they had not yet reached the age of puberty.
At the Battle of Badr, it was two young Muslims who killed Abu Jahl. The two were so young that Abdul Rahman ibn Auf described them as "still seemingly inexperienced in the art of fighting."
Usaama ibn Zaid was appointed to lead one of the largest Muslim armies, which included both Abu Bakr and Umar, yet he was only eighteen years of age. Indeed, some people questioned the choice of Usaama on account of his young age. Obviously, the Prophet (ﷺ) would not have appointed him to that position unless he had developed the maturity, faith and understanding that it takes fr such a position.
Much of the knowledge of the sunnah was passed on by those younger Companions who lived and grew up around the Prophet (ﷺ). Such Companions included ibn Masood, ibn Abbaas, ibn Umar and Aisha (radhiyallahu 'anhum).
This life, is coming to an end and when a person dies, his chasing after the desires of this life come to an end. Also, when life comes to an end, his opportunity for working also comes to an end. Every Muslim must realize what a trial life is in itself and why Allah has given life to him. Allah has described the purpose of life and death in the following verse,
"Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent - [He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving." - [QS.57:1-2]Abul Ala Maududi highlights some essential and relevant points to these verses,
"That is, the object of giving life to men in the world and causing their death is to test them to see which of them is best in deeds. Allusion has been made in this brief sentence to a number of truths: (1) That life and death are given by Allah; no one else can grant life nor cause death; (2) that neither the life nor the death of a creation like man, which has been give the power to do both good and evil, is purposeless; the Creator has created him in the world for the test: life is for him the period of the test and death means that the time allotted for the test has come to an end; (3) that for the sake of this very test the Creator has given every man an opportunity for action, so that he may do good or evil in the world and practically show what kind of a man he is; (4) that the Creator alone will decide who has done good or evil; it is not for us to purpose a criterion for the good and evil deeds but [such is] for Allah; therefore, whoever desires to get through the test, will have to find out what is the criterion of a good deed in His sight; the fifth point is contained in the meaning of the test itself, that is, every person will be recompensed according to his deeds, for if there was no reward or punishment the test would be meaningless."The Prophet (ﷺ) said,
"Three things follow the deceased [to his grave], two of them return and one remains with him. His family, wealth and deeds follow him, while his family and wealth return, and only his deeds remain with him." - [Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim]However, in the grave, he is in need of provisions, otherwise the grave will be a torturous place for him. Unfortunately for the deceased, the provisions for the grave and the Hereafer, must be obtained while one is in this life, before death comes to him. Allah has reminded humans of this reality by telling them,
"O you who have believed, fear Allah. And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow - and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is acquainted with what you do." - [QS.59:18]If the person did not send ahead those provisions while he was alive, he will yearn to return to this life in order to get those badly needed provisions. But there will be no retur. He will be lost and sorrowful over his failure to get and store his provisions for that journey when he had the ability to do so. He will be in despair, founding no possible escape fom what he now must face.
Then the old man said, "O young man, if pople are satisfed with this life's riches, then be truly rich by relying on Allah. If pople feel delight in the aspects of this life, then be delighted by being close to Allah. If they feel that they have the company of their loved ones, then make Allah your companion. If they welcome and seek closeness to their leaders and chiefs, so that they earn might and status with them, then know Allah and seek the means of approach to Him, and you will earn the ultimate might and elevated status.
We ask Allah to let our path, in this life, end in the Garden of Eden. We beg Him to make us among those who take sufficient provisions from this life, for the dwelling of everlasting delights and constant shade. We ask Allah to make us and our parents and relatives in the grades encompassed by His Mercy, those who shall have no fear, nor ever grieve. And Allah know best."
"And present to them the example of the life of this world, [its being] like rain which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingles with it and [then] it becomes dry remnants, scattered by the winds. And Allah is ever, over all things, Perfect in Ability. Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope." - [18:45-46]
- Maulana Muhammad Zakaria Iqbal, Stories from the Hadith, Darul Isha'at
- Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo, Commentary On The Forty Hadith Of Al Nawawi Volume 1, Al-Basheer Publications
- Abdul Malik bin Muhammad, Life is a Fading Shadows, Darussalam
