Let not the Attraction of the Dunya Divert you

[ummtaalib]

Forgetfulness the people of the dunya

 

Imaam al-Ghazzaali رحمه الله writes,

"Know that in their forgetfulness the people of the dunya are like a group of people sailing upon a ship. When they come to an island, and disembark to relieve themselves, the captain warns them against returning late, and instructs them to remain only so long as is necessary, lest he raise the anchor and set sail without them.

Heeding this, some of them hurry back quickly, and hence find themselves able to sit in the best and most spacious parts of the ship.

The others, however, behave in different ways. Some become entranced by gazing at the island's flowers and rippling streams, and its gems and precious metals, and the suddenly come to, and hasten back to the ship, and although they find spaces which are inferior to those occupied by those who preceded them, they are still safe.

Others are so preoccupied by the flowers that they cannot bring themselves to leave them, so they pick and carry as many as they can. When they reach the ship they find only narrow, uncomfortable places, and are made still less comfortable by the fact that they cannot bring themselves to throw out what they have brought with them, although the flowers fade and dry soon enough. When the wind gets up, they are forced to throw their dry flowers overboard, and escape just with their own lives.

Others, however, have penetrated the jungles and forgotten the captain's advice, so that when they hear his final call to depart, they rush back only to find that the ship has sailed without them, and they remain marooned with what they had collected, until they all perish.

Still others are so obsessed with gathering good things that they are deaf even to the captain's cry. Of these, some are eaten by wild beasts, or are poisoned by snakes, while others wander aimlessly until they die of hunger. This class resembles the people who live for the world, who are preoccupied with its mortal pleasures, and live in heedlessness of their future.

How repulsive is the man who claims to be intelligent and full of insight, and yet is deluded by gems, silver and gold, and by flowers and fruits, nothing of which will accompany him to his destination!"

[selections from Fath al-Bari]

muftisays.com

[ummtaalib]

Chasing your Shadow

 

Al-Hafidh Abul-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi رحمه الله said,

"This life is like your shadow; if you turn your back to it and walk away from it, it will continue following you. But if you try to chase it and catch it, it will always run away from you. For this, Allaah, Exalted is He, Commanded this worldly life to serve those who serve Him, and to enslave those who serve it."

[seeds of Admonishment and Reform]

muftisays.com

[ummtaalib]

Worldly Pleasures

 

Imagine someone saying to you, “This fruit is very sweet. However the sweetness remains for 15 minutes only and thereafter a bitter taste will remain for a long time while this other fruit is extremely bitter to the taste for the first 15 minutes and thereafter changes to a very sweet taste which will remain forever.” Then at gunpoint you are forced to choose and eat one of the fruits. Which fruit will you choose? Even the most foolish person will choose the bitter tasting fruit since the initial bitter taste will be followed by a sweetness which will last forever. A person immersed in the pleasures of the world without worrying about the consequences of the Hereafter is like the foolish person who chooses the initially sweet tasting fruit but which will leave a bitter taste for a long time.

 

 

Love for the Dunya

 

A great house without a toilet is useless making the toilet an absolute necessity. However one does not love it. Similarly, the dunya is a necessity, one must not have love for it.

 

 

(From the lectures of Shaykh Muhammad Saleem Dhorat)

[ummtaalib]

Love of the World

 

Rumi’s Analogy

 

Mawlana Rumi ra describes “love for the world” in the following way.

A ship needs water to float on. It will remain on the surface of the water as long as the water does not enter the ship. Once water enters the ship, it will sink. Similarly man is the ship and the world is the water. Just as the ship needs water to keep afloat, man needs the world to live. As long as the world remains outside and does not enter the heart, man will reach his destination. If the love of the world enters the heart, then like the ship which allows water to enter, it will sink.

[ummtaalib]

The Lovers of Allah & the Dunya

 

Shaykh Yunus Patel (Raheemahullah)

 

In India, one will find certain people who play the flute to charm snakes. …The snake ‘drowns’ in the sweetness of that sound. In this manner, the snake is caught. These snake catchers have learnt the art of catching snakes and they have learnt the skill of removing the poison of the snake. Thereafter, they ‘play’ with that python and cobra – since it is under their control.

 

What one learns from this is that one has to first learn the art of charming snakes; then the biggest snake too will be under one’s control.

 

This world is akin to a snake – a very dangerous one. The Ahlullah are such people who have mastered the art of controlling the snake of ‘Dunya’ . They take out its ‘poison’ from the heart (Hubbud Dunya), and thereafter make use of it. 

 

By keeping the company of these Ahlullah, we too will learn how to remove the poisonous effects of the world and how to make use of the world, without giving our hearts to it. Otherwise we will become victim to its fatal poison.