Be like a wanderer in this world

Warning us from all kinds of temptations, the Almighty mentions worldly blessings before the instigation of the shaitan: “The promise of Allah is true, and let not your neighbor’s life deceive you, and let not the seducer deceive you about Allah”
[Quran 31:33].

Shaitan tempts with great hopes and the grace of Allah, which really outstrips His wrath. He frightens with poverty and inspires doubts, but as soon as Allah is remembered, the seducer shrinks and runs away. And when he is already biting his fingers in frustration, not daring to approach the believer, the earthly world comes to his aid. Its charms – they can be touched and tasted, they can be accumulated and multiplied, but the main thing is that they are permitted and not prohibited. This is the whole subtlety!

Allah has not forbidden us to enjoy earthly goods. On the contrary, He created them for His believing slaves, so that we can use them to satisfy our needs and to draw closer to Him. So many doors leading to the mercy of Allah are opened thanks to material wealth! There are so many better opportunities to thank Allah and help people! But how difficult it is, once having plunged into worldly goods, to remain indifferent to them and not desire them with all your heart.

It is narrated from the words of ‘Abdallah ibn’ Umar that once the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, took him by the shoulder and said: “Be in this world like a stranger or a traveler.” Revealing the meaning of these words, ‘Abdallah said: “When the evening comes, do not wait for the morning, and when the morning comes, do not wait for the evening. Take from your health for your illness and take from your life for your death ”(al-Bukhari).

What does it mean to be a stranger? Imagine a person who is allowed to stay in a foreign country for a while, provided that he will certainly return to his homeland and take nothing with him. He can start a family and build a house, make friends and wealth, but after the deadline he will have to give up everything and leave. He will not be able to take with him anything except what he sent to his homeland in advance. Will he save up all that he earned and what will go to others after him? Wouldn’t he try to save at least some of this for himself by sending it to his future home?

Each of us will certainly leave this world and return to Allah, where he will receive what he has prepared for himself. Each of us is a stranger on earth, and our permanent refuge is with Allah. He allowed us to enjoy the benefits of this world so that we could build palaces and gardens for ourselves in eternal life. He made the pleasures of this world seductive and accessible, but promised those who show patience and chastity an even greater reward in the Gardens of Eden. So much so that all the blessings of this world are not worth even a handful of earth in Paradise. It is no coincidence that this world was named dunya, which means ‘closest’, ‘lowest’. It is close and accessible, but the benefits from it are small and fleeting, and all the pleasures in it are associated with anxiety and are not without drawbacks.

The prophets knew better than others the true value of this world and taught to treat it the way it deserves. Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, compared this world with a dead sheep, for which no one will pay even a broken penny. He explained that for Allah this whole world is not even worth a mosquito’s wing. He said: “What do I care about this world ?! In this world, I am like a rider who rested in the shade of a tree, and then continued on his way and left it ” (al-Bukhari).

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, lived in a small clay house, and if he stretched out his legs, they touched the wall. He rarely ate his fill, and it happened that his household met the third moon, and in his house the hearth was never divorced. He slept on a hard mat, which left marks on his body, and everything that he earned or received as a gift, he gave to his neighbors and those in need among Muslims. All his life he sought only the pleasure of Allah, and Allah has prepared for him a great reward: “Your Lord will certainly bestow upon you, and you will be pleased” [Quran 93: 5].

We live in this world as if we came here forever. We work hard to get rich and get rich to earn the praise of flatterers. We give birth and raise children, and then leave them to ourselves and a society in which ignorance reigns. We forget about them as much as about ourselves, believing that wealth will make them successful. We sin and put off repentance until later, as if we are guaranteed a peaceful old age.

Much of this happens to us because of the love of earthly goods. It makes a person envious, selfish, stingy with good deeds. It drives out love for Allah from the heart and replaces hope for a future life with great hopes. Hopes in this deceptive world. The most empty and meaningless. “Everyone will taste death, but only on the day of resurrection will you receive your full reward. He who is removed from the fire and introduced into paradise will gain success, and the near life is nothing but tempting benefits ” [Koran 3: 185].