Seeking The Hereafter While Not Forgetting Your Worldly Share

Opening Praise and Glorification

All praise is due to Allah, the creator of existence from non-existence, the maker of light from darkness, the bringer of patience from pain, and the maker of repentance from regret. We thank Him for the misfortunes as we thank Him for the blessings. We pray and greet His noble Messenger — the master of the sons of Adam, whom Jesus the son of Mary gave glad tidings of, and to whose mission Ibrahim (peace be upon him) prayed when he was raising the foundations of the sacred House of Allah. Glory be to Him who did not take a son, did not have a partner in the kingdom, and did not have a guardian from humiliation — glorify Him greatly.

The Opening Quranic Recitation

O people! Allah says in His Book — after we seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan:

Indeed, Qarun was from the people of Musa and he rebelled against them. We gave him of the treasures such that their keys would burden a band of strong men. When his people said to him: "Do not rejoice! Indeed, Allah does not like those who rejoice." And seek, through what Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters.

The Hadith on the Son of Adam's Desires

(Sahih Muslim, Book 42, Hadith 7064)

The son of Adam says: "My wealth! My wealth!" But what is yours of your wealth except that which you ate and finished, or wore and wore out, or gave in charity and sent ahead?

The Glorification of Allah

O Allah, You whom the eyes cannot see, and anyone attempting to give an accurate description of You is unable to do so. You know the weight of the weightiest mountains and the depths of the deepest oceans. Nothing can remain hidden from Your sight and vision.

Say: If the oceans were ink for the words of my Lord, the oceans would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought the like of it as a supplement.

If the trees of the entire creation were to be turned into pens, and the oceans and all the water within them were to be turned into ink, and they were given the command to start noting down the glorification of Allah, the pens will perish and the ink will finish — and the glorification of your Allah, your Rabb, will never finish. It is everlasting.

And Allah mentions the special bond He shares with His servant:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 2577)

"O My slaves, each and every one of you is hungry except the one I have fed — so seek your sustenance from Me and I will provide for you. O My slaves, each and every one of you is naked except the one I have clothed — so seek clothing from Me and I will clothe you."

The Cycle of Worldly Competition

Respected audience, dear brothers and sisters and honorable esteemed guests of Allah — we all come into this world and our very existence is based on the concept of competition. The moment we gain some sense and start to gather our surroundings, the very first thought that comes to our mind is that every single human being, every single individual, is trying to be something in life.

They start off from school at a very young age. One of our teachers used to say that we amass them with so much load they are not even capable of bearing the burden of their books — that is why when you see young children going to school they are usually overpowered by the weight of the books on their backs. The very start of the son of Adam's existence is a struggle.

He starts at that very young age — preschool, kindergarten. At times it is the fear of punishment from the parents, ridicule from society, and at the same time the peer pressure of seeing other children going to school. That is why many a times when we realize the dangers of the schooling system and we put our children in homeschooling, they feel like they are being left out — as if they are not competing enough in the competition that is meant to be there in life.

So the life goes on and the struggle goes on until the person reaches middle school, high school, and graduates from college. People keep telling him: "A time will come when you will get rest in your life." But that time never comes. When you graduate college, finish university, you think maybe now is the time to sit down and rest — but no, now is the time to go out and start seeking your sustenance. This cycle continues until the person reaches his grave.

The hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ mentions that nothing —

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6439; Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 1048)

Nothing can fill the stomach of the son of Adam. The desire for dunya continues and continues — you get a little bit, you want a little bit more; you get that little bit more, you want more — and you keep on going and going until the turab, the mud and dust of the grave, fills the stomach of the son of Adam. That is where his desires are going to end.

The Visual Demonstration of the Prophet ﷺ

We are all familiar with the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ — very rarely do we see a visual demonstration from him in the hadith, but in this particular hadith, Rasulullah ﷺ actually gave a visual description. The books of hadith give the graph which Rasulullah ﷺ drew:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6417)

He made small lines — a graph, a box — and within that graph and box he made lines. He said these lines represent the problems and tribulations the son of Adam faces throughout his life: in the form of death, in the form of punishment, in the taking away of his beloved ones. Then there is one line that exceeds the box itself.

The box is the confinement of this life — because there is a time appointed by Allah. You come into this world, and there is a time when you are going to leave:

Each and every single individual will taste death. So that box is the life of the son of Adam. But there is one line that exceeds the box itself, and Rasulullah ﷺ clarified that line by saying: هَذَا أَمَلُهُ — these are the desires of the son of Adam. He pursues his desires and continues to pursue them until he dies and his desires have not been fulfilled, have not been completed.

Surah at-Takathur: The Competition for Worldly Gain

Allah gave a specific warning in the Qur'an — an entire surah was revealed related to the desires of the son of Adam and the sense of competition that we bring with us into this world. Many a times we are reciting these surahs on a daily basis; for some of us they may even be committed to memory — but we never stop, never think, never ponder over the communication that is going on between us and Allah.

That surah has been named Surah at-Takathur — takathur, which comes from the word kathra, meaning the competition of amassing wealth in this worldly life. When Allah demonstrates that competition He starts off by saying:

Verily, your competition in amassing wealth and competing with each other in attaining that dunya has finished you off and it has destroyed you. The word halaka — destruction — has been used here by Allah.

There are two dimensions to the أَلْهَاكُمْ perspective. Number one is the ultimate destruction which comes in the form of death — when a person dies and realizes he has not done enough to please Allah. But there is another problem that comes attached with it, which is distraction. The person gets so distracted that by the time he realizes it, it is too late. And that is exactly what happens to us in the cycle of our lives.

We start from school, continue with our education, and in the back of our minds we do have the feeling that I have to please Allah before I die. In the subcontinent, jab koi daadi rakh leta choti umar mein — when someone keeps a beard at a young age — what do the older people tell him? "Beta, abhi toh teri bohat umar padhi hai" — "You have a long life ahead of you, you'll get the opportunity later on in life." But is that true? That time never came even for the people who lived into their older ages.

And Shaytan is there — the bitter enemy of insan, the very reason why Shaytan was expelled from the heavens:

The life mission of Shaytan is to misguide mankind. So he keeps on telling you in your mind to delay, delay, and delay a little bit more — until your time of death comes. That is what is being mentioned here in the Book of Allah: أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ — verily, this competition of amassing wealth has destroyed you.

The Root of Unhealthy Competition

Where does this sense of competition come from? When you see other individuals and human beings in your life, you think that this person has it all — but you do not know the intricate details and complications of that person's life. You see that person driving a brand new shiny car and you say: "He is living such a good life." But you do not know what is going on inside of him. Can he even sleep at night? Maybe he is going through a divorce, maybe he is going through so many difficulties.

So in your mind you say: "This person has acquired true success, so I have to follow his footsteps." You see someone who bought a new home, or recently graduated and attained a degree, or was able to attain a method of easy cash — that is the trend in the current generation. No one wants to study anymore. In the olden days everyone would become a doctor or engineer, spending seven to eight years of their lives. The current generation wants easy, quick money. When they see a person who has attained the secret to easy cash, they say: "I need to adopt the same path." That is where the sense of competition comes from.

When we see each other with the luxuries of life — and they may not even be luxuries for that person, because dunya is always relative. For someone driving a brand new Toyota Camry, that is not enough — he needs a better car, then a better car still. But you, driving a lower-level car, are looking up to that individual.

That is why the standing instruction given by Rasulullah ﷺ to Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) was that in the matters of dunya, look towards the people who are below you — those who have less than you — because that will lead you to do the shukr of Allah due to the blessings you have in your life.

We sit here in this part of the world and complain — that is why there is a term called "first world problems": slow internet, the car making a noise, the door not opening properly, the AC not working. But do you know how people live in other parts of the world? The amount of money that we blow up on petty things like snacks or chips could be someone's entire month's salary in a third world country. His salary for the entire month — and that person may have six, seven, or even ten children he is feeding, and they are happy at the end of the day. All praise is due to Allah.

I cannot forget an individual I came across in my childhood. He was robbed at gunpoint, and the robbers did not just rob him — they beat him to the point where some of the brain matter from his head leaked out onto the pavement. The doctors declared him brain dead. But somehow, by the qudra of Allah, he survived. He passed away rahimahullah later on, having lived for another ten years. The only thing I ever heard from that person's mouth was "Allah ka bohat shukran" — all praise is for Allah. There was always the shukr on his tongue. But for us, we are always complaining.

If you do the shukr of Allah, your blessings will be increased — you will attain an increment in your blessings. But the more ingratitude for the blessings of Allah — kufran-e-ni'mah — the worse your situation becomes.

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Competition

This aspect of competition is something that we need to control. Competition is very good — but in affairs of deen and other noble affairs, that is known as healthy competition. For example, you see someone who studied and became very successful in life, and that pushes you towards studying harder — that is a good form of competition. As opposed to the competition where you are simply trying to attain something you will never be able to attain — that is unhealthy competition, and it leads to further and bigger problems like jealousy, hatred, and all the other problems that exist in our society today.

The advice Rasulullah ﷺ gave to Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) was: in the matters of your dunya, look towards those who are below you — that will lead you to do the shukr of Allah due to the blessings you have. And in the matters of deen, look towards those who are above you — the people who have a higher level of taqwa — because that will lead you towards trying to be like them, imitating them, and becoming better in your iman and your faith.

The Reality of the Grave

Going back to Surah at-Takathur — Allah mentions that mankind will never learn its lessons. Many a times we go to a graveyard, we stand on the edge of the grave, we actually look down — and then we come back and go back to being exactly the way we were. No change whatsoever.

I was in Jannatul Baqi', and they were burying someone — this was right after Fajr, when they carry the bodies to the graveyards. And there was an individual standing on the edge of the grave, checking NBA stats on his phone while they were burying the person right there. In the best graveyard, at a time when a person should be crying and remembering Allah — death right in front of him — and instead of remembering death, he is checking scores. We have become so accustomed to the concept of death that we do not even take an effect from it anymore.

Allah mentions in the second ayah that mankind will not take its lesson — no matter how much encouragement is given, how much fear is instilled within their hearts — they will not realize, they will not understand until:

Until you reach inside of them — not standing on the edge, not the one outside — until you reach the confinements of the grave. That is when you are going to realize what has happened.

A person once came to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) — he was a Jew — and he said: "You Muslims work so hard, you strive your entire life. What if you die and you find out there is no Allah? What was all the sacrifice and hard work used for?" The answer Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) gave — and his answers are usually very on point and full of wisdom — was: "I would rather work hard in this brief worldly life and die and find out there is no Allah, than not do anything in this brief worldly life, die, and find out there is Allah — and thereby amass for myself the punishment of Allah for an eternity."

The realization we need to have is that you do have the chance to repent and turn back towards Allah until your last moments. It is only at halatul naza' — the throes of death — that the opportunity to repent is taken away from the individual.

So Allah mentions: حَتَّىٰ زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ — until you reach your grave. You are dead and inside the grave. Now when you start to see the realities, everything is on display right in front of you. The things you heard but doubted due to the weakness of your iman — now you can see them firsthand. The angels are coming. Munkar and Nakir are coming, and they place you in a sitting position and start to ask:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1338; Sahih Muslim, Book 40, Hadith 6861)

"What do you say about this man, Muhammad ﷺ?" Now what are you going to do? If you have lived your life according to the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ, it is easy to answer — just as if I ask you now, you will answer that Rasulullah ﷺ is my Prophet. Over there, if you have lived your life accordingly, you will be able to answer. Otherwise the answer will be: لَا أَدْرِي — I don't know, please don't ask me.

The hadith states:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1338)

He will be struck with a heavy iron mallet, and he will yell such a scream that every creation of Allah — besides the humans and the jinns — will hear that scream.

'Ilm al-Yaqin: Knowledge of Certainty

Allah then adds the key: كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ، ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ — No! You will find out. And then again: No! You will find out. Even now, as all of this is being said and mentioned, there is still that little thing in your heart saying you still have time — maybe another twenty years, ten years. Allah is saying: Kalla — No. You will find out.

And what type of finding out? لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ — Ilmul yaqin. What is the meaning of ilmul yaqin? When the eyes see and the heart yusaddiquhu — confirms it. You will be able to see for yourself. For now you are hearing everything, and the aspect of iman is believing in all of it:

Iqrarun bil-lisan, tasdiiqun bil-qalb — declaration by the tongue, confirmation by the heart. This type of ilmul yaqin is when a person knows with one hundred percent surety what is about to happen to him. And that ilmul yaqin will reach its completion:

When you will see — after reaching the grave — the fire of Hell right in front of you.

The Danger of Forgetting Our Obligations

The aspect being highlighted here, respected audience, dear brothers and sisters, is this: when we get engrossed in dunya and engage in it to the extent where we forget our obligations towards Allah and our obligations towards Rasulullah ﷺ, that leads us down a path from which there is no coming back.

When you look at the practice of Rasulullah ﷺ and the type of life he lived — there was once a companion who approached Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and inquired about the life of Rasulullah ﷺ from her. She said:

"We saw three moons — one after another after another — and not a fire was kindled in the house of Rasulullah ﷺ." Meaning nothing was cooked. The person was so amazed: "How would you survive? What would sustain you?" She said: الْأَسْوَدَيْنِ — the two black things: water and dates. This is the lifestyle of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Yes, we understand there is a weakness within us, there is a desire for dunya — but a person should work actively on curbing that desire. الدُّنْيَا بِقَدْرِ الضَّرُورَةِ — dunya is according to one's necessity. When it comes to savings or making a plan in life where you can live a balanced life, there is nothing wrong with that.

When we look at the lives of the companions, we find some who were very poor — but we also find companions who were well-to-do. Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf (may Allah be pleased with him), Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) — he provided for an entire caravan. It is said that when his travel caravan would enter Madinah, the first camel would be in Madinah while the last one was still in Makkah — that is how long his caravans were. So you do find the example of the wealthy companions, but they never forgot their akhirah.

That is why it is mentioned:

Be from amongst the sons of the akhirah — the people who invest in the Hereafter and who are mindful of their obligations towards Allah.

Closing and Du'a

There was one other aspect I wanted to highlight — the aspect of zuhud — perhaps in the upcoming khutbah, next week or the week after, inshallah. May Allah give us the tawfiq to engage in healthy competition specifically in matters of deen and not in matters of dunya.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

I say this and I seek the forgiveness of Allah for myself and for you and for all the Muslims — so seek His forgiveness, for indeed He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Second Khutbah and Du'a

All praise is due to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. O people! Indeed Allah, the Exalted in His Glory, has commanded you a great thing — He began with Himself and His glorified angels, and He said:

Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, send blessings upon him and greet him with peace.