The Dunya is Distracting You More Than You Realise - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Khutbah al-Jumu'ah — Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

Surah al-Takathur and the Distraction of the Dunya

Surah al-Takathur — أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ — the multiple rivalries that people have in competing for attaining the dunya has distracted them.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 42, Hadith 7064)

The child of Adam says, "It is my money, it is my money." The Prophet ﷺ said: O child of Adam, does anything belong to you except that which you consume and it gets wasted, or that which you wear and it becomes worn out, or that which you give in charity and it goes ahead in front of you?

This hadith and this surah of the Quran, Surah al-Takathur, they speak about a reality that every single one of us is in and every single one of us faces and that we see around us. And that is that the vast majority of people around us — and many of us also, except for those whom Allah has mercy upon — are distracted by the dunya, and we're distracted in trying to attain it in whichever way, in whichever manner. And that competition, that rivalry, that wanting more and more of the dunya, is something which is so innate into the nature of man that it distracts us from that which is more important — that which requires more focus and attention from the believer, and that is their worship of Allah and their preparation for the standing before their Lord on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

But the reality of people and the reality of human nature is that we see what the dunya has to present and what it has to offer. And we see, especially in the time that we live in today, what others have, and that then makes us want to have what they have and more than what they have. And so we spend most of our lifetime in rivalry and competition seeking what is called al-takathur. And al-takathur just means wanting more — whether it's in money, whether it's in children, whether it's in power, whether it's in status or fame or anything else of the worldly nature — it is to want more and more. And it becomes something which is distracting for a person, to the point that a person will then start letting go of their obligations, that which Allah obligated upon them. They will forget what's more important, they will forgo the rights that others have upon them, they will do evil towards them, they will forget about the halal and the haram and the Shari'ah of Allah, only because they want more.

And the Prophet ﷺ is telling us in this hadith that actually what you have of the dunya — all of it is a waste — because either you're going to eat it and it's finished, or you're going to wear it and it's gone, or even that which you left behind of that which you accumulate is just going to get distributed to others. Except for that which you put forth for the akhirah, except that which you gave as sadaqah or you did for the sake of Allah — that's what you find on the Day of Judgment.

The Fear of Al-Takathur

And that is reflected in the hadith of Abu Hurairah in the Sahih of Ibn Hibban, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

It is not poverty that I fear for you after me, but it is al-takathur — that you become so embroiled in the daily rat race of the dunya that you spend all of your focus and attention on it. And how many of us have missed a prayer, delayed a prayer, forgotten an obligation, not fulfilled the right of others, simply because we're just busy — busy trying to accumulate more of the dunya?

And that is why it is a problem when a person becomes so distracted with that which is less important, and they become distracted from what is more important by that which is less important. And Allah tells us the reality in this surah of the situation, because He says — not only will you be distracted, but this will continue to remain the case:

Until you visit your own graves — not visit the graveyard when others die, until you visit your own graves, meaning until you die. And Allah uses the word here of a ziyarah — to visit — because Allah is telling us that the visiting of the grave, meaning when you die and you enter the grave, that's not the permanent abode, that's not the place that it all ends and finishes. In fact, in many ways it is when it begins, because that is the true life, that is the eternal existence, that is when the counting and the judgment begin.

Nothing Will Satisfy Except the Dust of the Ground

So Allah says that is when a person will come to know then what is true and what is not true. And that is why the Prophet ﷺ told us in the hadith of Anas ibn Malik:

If the child of Adam was to have a valley of gold, he would not be satisfied until he has a second. And nothing will satisfy a person except the dust of the ground. And many scholars took that to mean their own death — until they're buried in dust, they're covered in mud, that's when they will stop wanting more and more. And Allah shows repentance upon those who repent — those who realize that their life is finite, that it's limited in time, that you only have a set number of years and only Allah knows how many that may be or how few that may be, and therefore you have to spend it in working for the akhirah, in working for what is the true existence and true life.

That mindset, that perception, that knowledge, that realization — it is something which is few and far between. Because the nature of the dunya is that it is mulhiyah — it distracts you, it overcomes you, it busies you. And then maybe on that occasion you're reminded — like the khutbat al-Jumu'ah when you come to it, maybe Ramadan, maybe on that one occasion you go for Umrah — you're reminded. But how quickly and how soon do we become distracted again? And that is the reality of the dunya.

And that's why the Shari'ah and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and the Quran stress the importance of things like dhikr and the recitation of the Quran and the general worship of Allah. Because every time you mention the name of Allah, or you do that which is pleasing to Allah, or you fulfill an obligation of Allah, it is a reminder — even if it is something which is subconscious, internal — it is a reminder that you're focusing on what is more important. So yes, I'm busy, I have a job, I have a career, I have a profession, I have many other responsibilities and chores. But when the time of salah comes, nothing comes in my way, nothing will be given more precedence over that salah. When there is an obligation to fulfill or a right of another person that I have to fulfill, nothing will precede that which is less important. And that is how the believer is.

You Will Surely Come to Know

Because if you don't realize this until it is too late, then it is as Allah says:

You will surely come to know. Then again, you will surely come to know. And some of the scholars of tafseer said that repetition is emphasis — just in case you're in any doubt — that there will come a certain time when you will know what was most important, you will know where you should have spent most of your time and attention and effort. If you don't realize it now, that moment will come when death strikes you.

They said that repetition in this surah is to say that you will know more than once the reality — meaning at the time of death you will realize the reality of what was more important, and then in the grave, and then again on Yawm al-Qiyamah, you will come to know where you should have spent more of your time and effort. And that is why in what is reported from the Prophet ﷺ, that a person in the grave would love just to come back to this dunya to pray two short, quick rakahs — that would be more beloved to them than everything else. Those two rakahs that we think are so unworthy, so insignificant, so unimportant — that we often have so many occasions when we can offer them and we just let them pass by — that would be more worthy to that person in the grave, more valuable than everything else that they spent their whole lifetime running after and pursuing.

Another scholar said that Allah in this repetition speaks to the believers and the disbelievers — that the disbelievers will come to know the reality because they wasted their life. But the believers who spent their life not wasting it, but spending it in the worship of Allah and spending it in the remembrance of Allah and that which Allah loves and is pleased with — they will also come to know the reality of that which they put forth.

The Three Levels of Certainty

And then Allah mentions to us the reality of those who disbelieve, those who rejected the knowledge that came to them of the Quran and the Sunnah:

You will come to know with certain knowledge. When you certainly see the Fire, and then you will have with it the eye of certainty. And that's because for the believer, there is enough for them — they have certain knowledge. What is certain knowledge? Certain knowledge is that you took that knowledge from a trustworthy source, you took it from a source that has integrity, you believed it, it warned you, so you heeded the warning. And that's enough for the believer. Allah tells us in the Quran, the Prophet ﷺ told us in his Sunnah — that's enough for the believer. They don't need to see it. None of us have seen paradise, none of us have seen the Fire, but we know that it's true, we know that it's certain because Allah told us, our Prophet ﷺ told us.

Whereas the disbeliever will reject this — they say, "I don't know, no one's seen it, there's no proof, you can't prove it." So they will reject this. But no one will be able to reject the second level of knowledge, and that is when everyone sees it on the Day of Judgment. The believers, when it is drawn near, they see it on Yawm al-Qiyamah, and they know that, inshallah, that will not be their abode. And the disbelievers, when it is made clear and apparent for them that that will be their abode. And then we come to the third and final level of knowledge that Allah mentions elsewhere in the Quran, and that is the true reality — and that is when a person will be made to enter into their final abode. Then there will be no doubt left.

The believer is the one who doesn't wait until that moment — when it's too late, when there is no recourse for them to come back to their dunya, when there is no choice or option for them to do more, to have iman, to make tawbah, to do anything. They spend the time and opportunity that Allah has given them now, to work for that moment when they will stand before their Lord.

We ask Allah that He makes us from amongst those people, and that Allah blesses us with knowledge and certainty, and that Allah allows us to follow them into action.

The Story of the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr, and Umar with the Ansari Host

The Prophet ﷺ went out one night and he met his most beloved companions, Abu Bakr and Umar رضي الله عنهما. And the only reason that they too were out at that time of the night was because they too were hungry — no food, nowhere for food to be found.

So when the three of them met, the Prophet ﷺ said, "Let us go to the house of one of the Ansar." And they came to his house and he wasn't home, but his wife was there. And she said, "O Messenger of Allah, wait — he will shortly return."

When he came and found, in the middle of the night, three guests — the Prophet ﷺ, and Abu Bakr and Umar — he said, "No one today is more honored by their guests than I am." And he knew why they came. So he brought for them a basket of dates and some water and he said, "Have this to begin with." And then he took a knife out, meaning that he would go and slaughter for them. The Prophet ﷺ said to him, "If you are going to slaughter, then don't slaughter one that is giving milk" — meaning don't slaughter one of those animals that you benefit from, that gives milk, that you need. So he said, "Okay." He went and he slaughtered, and he prepared that food and presented it to these three guests of his. And the Prophet ﷺ ate, and Abu Bakr ate, and Umar رضي الله عنهما ate.

And then the Prophet ﷺ said after they had finished:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 36, Hadith 5055)

"By the One in whose hand is my soul — this is from the blessings that Allah will question you about on Yawm al-Qiyamah." That food — severe hunger, poverty, don't have anything to eat — even this, you will be asked about on Yawm al-Qiyamah. It was hunger that took you out from your homes, and then you never returned until Allah blessed you with something.

How often do we wake up in the morning and open our fridges, open our larders? How often do we leave our homes only to come back and Allah blesses us with so much? Every single one of those blessings, Allah may question you and I about.

You Will Be Questioned About Every Blessing

And in the hadith in al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah of al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam رضي الله عنه, that he said concerning this verse:

"You will be questioned on the Day of Judgment for every blessing that Allah bestowed upon you." He said, "O Messenger of Allah, which of these blessings will Allah question us about?"

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3356; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4158)

"And all that we have is dates and water." That's all the companions used to have — it was all that they had in terms of food and provision and sustenance. How many years of poverty and persecution, and in some wordings of the hadith he then continues and says, "And we're surrounded by enemies" — meaning even the water and the dates that we have, we don't enjoy fully, because we're afraid of these enemies that will attack us, come and wage war upon us, kill us and our children.

The Prophet ﷺ said to him:

"Verily it shall be so." Meaning Allah will question you even if all you had was dates and water. Allah will question you about that. Then what about when Allah gives you much more? And Allah blesses you with so much and bestows upon you so much of His bounty.

Closing and Du'a

To be conscious of what Allah has given to you, to be someone who has gratitude and thanking Allah, and to be a person of ibadah and dhikr and remembrance of Allah, working for the akhirah — this is what Allah wants from the believers and it is what gives them salvation in this life and the next.

We ask Allah that He bestows His mercy upon us and His forgiveness and His blessings. And that Allah makes us from the people of gratitude and the people of patience. And that Allah elevates our status. That Allah forgives and expiates for us our sins. That Allah protects us and our families from the trials and tribulations of the dunya. We ask Allah that He gives us life upon iman and death upon iman. And that Allah makes easy for us our affairs and the affairs of our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters across the world.