The Winner Is The One — Who Sells His World For His Hereafter:

Islam is the Final Religion and Complete System , and one of the most important characteristics of this Religion is that it regulates all aspects of life — Islam is the Religion of this world and the Hereafter.

Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Say (O Muhammad): Verily, my Salah (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are For Allah, the Lord of the ‘Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists)” (Al-An’aam 6:162)

In their du’aa’s the Muslims Frequently say, “Our Lord, give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire” (al-Baqarah 2:201).

This is the complete, perfect and comprehensive Religion of Allah — which combines the rights of Allah and the rights of people, and explains matters of this world and matters of the Hereafter.

Allah has repeatedly reminded us in the Quran — a Fact that has been Further clarified by the Prophet (saw) as well — that the value of this life (dunya) compared to the hereafter (Aakhirah) is very miniscule. Consider some of the verses of the Quran:

“…Are you pleased with the life of this world (dunya) rather than the hereafter (Aakhira)? But little is the enjoyment of the life of this world as compared with the Hereafter”. (Quran, Al-Tawbah: 38).

“…As compared with the life of the hereafter, the life of this world is nothing but a brief passing enjoyment”. (Quran, Ar-Rad: 26).

“And the life of this world is nothing but play and amusement. But Far better is the house in the hereafter For those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious). Will you not then understand?” (Quran, Al-An’aam: 32)

So, by likening this life to a brief passing enjoyment, play, amusement and a deception, Allah the All Knowing has clearly put the matter regarding the hereafter in perspective For us to ponder over and reflect. He cautions us not to get carried away by the charms of this life because in comparison with the hereafter, this life has quite a limited span. And as we go through Facing the life’s challenges as well as its attractions, we have to ensure that we do not deviate from the straight path.

Muslims believe that this world is the passageway to the Hereafter and that no one should be attached to this world at the expense of the Hereafter. They regard the Hereafter as their Focal point because it is eternal life, so we should strive For that aim and not For a life that is short and transient.

This does not mean that we should not strive For worldly aims too or develop the earth, rather the Muslims achieved great things in theoretical and practical spheres of knowledge, and other civilizations Followed the Muslims in their progress and knowledge.

Some prominent western universities still acknowledge this and teach it as part of their curricula — The French philosopher Gustave le Bon stated in his book The Civilization of the Arabs:

We must bear in mind that the Arabs – and the Arabs alone – are the ones who guided us to the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans. European universities, including the University of Paris, based their curricula on translations of their books For six hundred years and used their methods of research. The Islamic civilization was one of the most amazing that history has ever known.

The Muslims are not like anyone else. When they adhere to their Religion, they are at the Forefront of worldly affairs too, but when they Forsake their Religion and neglect it, they end up tailing behind others.

It was narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “There is no Muslim who plants something and birds or people or animals eat From it, but he will have the reward of charity For it.”(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2195; Muslim, 1553)

Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar (May Allah have mercy on him) said: This Hadeeth points to the virtue of planting and Farming, and encourages us to develop the earth. From it we may understand that Farming and agriculture are encouraged. This is a refutation of those ascetics who rejected this idea.

The reports which may be understood as discouraging Farming and agriculture should be interpreted as referring to cases where that distracts Muslims From religious affairs, such as the marfoo’ hadeeth (report) of Ibn Mas’ood which says: “Do not acquire land (For Farming) lest you become too attached to worldly matters.”

Al-Qurtubi said: This Hadeeth may be reconciled with other ahadith on this issue (which encourage Farming) by noting that this refers to being too preoccupied with land and Farming and being distracted by them From religious matters, and the other ahadith are to be understood as encouraging people to acquire land so that they may become independent of means or so that the Muslims may benefit From it and earn the reward For that. (Fath al-Baari, 5/4)

The Hadeeth mentioned by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar, “Do not acquire land (For Farming) lest you become too attached to worldly matters”.

(Al-Tirmidhi :2328).

Abu ‘Abbas Sahl ibn Sa’d as-Sa’idi said, “A man came to the Prophet(saw) and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, show me an action For which Allah will love me and For which people will love me if I do it. He said, “Do with little of this world and Allah will love you and do with little of what belongs to other people and people will love you”. (Ibn Majah)

Let’s remember that — when we live our lives according to what Islam teaches us, we not only live Fulfilling lives, we are also pleasing Allah and thus contributing toward credits that will count in the hereafter.

However, while living this life none of these should take precedence over Allah’s Commands and neither should divert us From our real purpose of life. The desire to attain the Favor of Allah (swt) should supersede all other considerations.

So, the point is that — the successful person in the sight of Allah(swt) is the one who spends all the blessings in this world to earn the Hereafter according to the order of Allah(swt).

May Allah(swt) include us among such Successful people. (Ameen).

JazakAllah (May Allah Reward You [with] Goodness)For Reading.

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