Fitnah of Dunya

Abu Musa Ashari (radi Allahu anhu) narrated that Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “He who loves his dunya hurts his Akhirah, and he who loves his akhirah hurts his dunya. Therefore you should give preference to the one that lasts over the one that is to perish.” [Hakim in Mustadrak]

If you live in a rented house and are having your own house built will you spend a great deal of money, if any, on the rented house or will you try to save as much as you can for the construction of your own house? When one works for the everlasting next life they try to send whatever they have forward. That means that they compromise their life styles in order to spend their money in Allah’s path. They compromise on their leisure in order to put in more effort for their akhirah. They compromise on their desires so that Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) fulfills their every desire in the Hereafter. In short, they try to maximize the return on whatever Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has given them in this world.

A look at the life of any of the Sahabah will show the practical application of this hadith. Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) repeatedly calls this world a “deception.” Despite being warned, we act as though it will last forever. We spend two or three decades on acquiring the “education” that will only serve us in this life. We then spend the rest of our decades trying to enjoy this life as much as we can. But for the everlasting life that will begin with the blink of an eye we do not bother to prepare much.

Sufyan Thawri narrated that Eesa ibn Maryam (alaihis salam) said: “As fire and water cannot coexist within the same bowl; in the same way love of the akhirah and love of this world cannot coexist in the heart of a Momin.” [Dham ad-Dunya li Ibn Abi ad-Dunya]