Dunya vs Akhirah: Choose Wisely

A Room With No Furniture

I want to start this khutbah by taking you back 1400 years ago to a room — a simple room, no furniture, no bed, no mattresses, nothing much in it — and a man is sleeping on the floor on a mat, woven reeds, and the marks of the mat are pressed into his blessed skin. It left a mark on his side. Umar walked in.

He saw the man. Umar — the giant, the lion, the one we all know. When he saw that, Umar weeps and he says:

"Ya Rasulullah, you see the king of Persia and Caesar — the king of Persia sleeps on silk, and Caesar on the finest bed, and the kings of the world are sleeping in comfort — and you are the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the most beloved to Him, the first for whom the gates of paradise will be opened, and you sleep like this?"

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam looked at Umar and smiled and said:

"Are you not pleased that they have the world and we have what comes after?"
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4629; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1479)

They have this world, but we will have what will come next.

That smile, that answer, that contentment from the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — that is the subject of my khutbah today. I would like to seal Ramadan with one of the goals of Ramadan, which is to break that chain that is chaining our heart to this dunya, to break off from that chain. Because a heart that is chained to this world is not a free heart.

One of the goals of Ramadan is to free you, to make you only a slave to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Dunya Is Little

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran:

"Say, the enjoyment of this world is little and the hereafter is better for the one who fears Allah" — for the one who has taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, who is conscious of Allah.

Little — not nothing, little. Allah did not say the dunya has no value. He only compared it to what is coming, and in that comparison it is a little. And yet, look at us — how we treat this dunya, how we live this life.

Two Camps

People in this life are divided into two camps.

The first camp wakes up in the morning and the first thing on their mind is the dunya. What do I have? What do I need? What did I miss? They move for the dunya. They fight for the dunya. They love for this world. They hate based on this world. They connect with you for this worldly life. And every call the dunya makes, they will be the first to respond. And if the call of Allah is made, they respond either late, or lazy, or little.

The second camp wakes up in the morning and their first thought is the akhirah. What did I prepare? What have I sent ahead of me? Am I ready? Did I pray my salah? Did I say my adhkar when I woke up?

Allah described both camps very clearly:

"Whoever desires the immediate, We hasten for them what We will. Then We make for them Hell, which they will enter with humiliation and defeat."

And the other camp — "Whoever desires the hereafter and strives for it as it should be striven for, while being a believer — for those, their striving will be appreciated."

Same life, same hours, same day, same world — but two completely different orientations of the heart.

The Prophet's Teaching on the Dunya and the Akhirah

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made it even clearer. He said:

"Whoever makes the hereafter his concern, Allah places richness in his heart, gathers his affairs, and the world comes to him willingly and submissively. But whoever makes the dunya his main concern, Allah places poverty between his eyes, scatters his affairs, and he gets from this world only what was already written for him — nothing more, nothing less."
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2465)

Did you hear that? The man of the akhirah — the world chases him. The man of the dunya — the world runs from him. The more he chases it, the more it retreats. Like a mirage in a desert — you exhaust yourself running toward it, and when you arrive, it was never water.

The Four Signs of a Heart Chained to This World

Now I want you to be honest with yourself. What are the signs that someone's heart is chained to this world?

Sign #1: They Only Move for the Dunya

Everything they do has a worldly price tag. If there is money in it, he will be there for sure. If there is status in it, they are there. If there is no benefit in it, they disappear.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made a du'a — and listen to what he said:

"O Allah, do not make this world our greatest concern, and do not make it the limit of our knowledge."
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3502)

He made this du'a because this is the danger — that your entire horizon becomes the dunya, that your knowledge stops at the dunya, that your desires never reach beyond it. That is the dangerous part.

Sign #2: They Never Think About the Akhirah

Not in their salah, not at night, not even when they pass by the graveyard. Allah says:

"Indeed, those who do not expect to meet Us, who are satisfied with the life of this world and feel secure in it, and those who are heedless of Our signs — their refuge will be the Fire."

Satisfied. Secure. Heedless. Three words. Three conditions of a heart that has forgotten the purpose of its existence.

One of the tabi'een said something that stopped me: "I have never seen anything like this — the Fire, which everyone wants to escape from, yet those fleeing it sleep soundly. And Jannah, which everyone desires, yet those seeking it sleep peacefully without any effort."

My brothers and sisters, you feel the darkness of the night — but there is the darkness of the grave, which is worse than the darkness of any midnight. And nobody turns the light on for you in that place.

Sign #3: They Are Deceived by Their Blessings

Deceived by their health. Deceived by their youth. Deceived by their wealth. Deceived by the blessings that Allah has given them. They do not see the money they earn, the health they have, the family they have, the status Allah has given them as something Allah gave them for a purpose — not for the purpose of the dunya, not for fame, not for collecting, not for simply increasing what you have of this world. No — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave it to you for a greater purpose, for a greater outcome.

They forgot what the purpose of it is. Because after beauty comes decay. After health comes illness. After life comes death. After money, you will leave this dunya to your grave — and no pocket, no checkbook, no credit card will be put with you in your grave. This body you tend to so carefully — the worms will eat it, every limb, every organ of it.

One of the righteous used to ask himself every single day, he would say: "Woe to you, Yazid! Who will pray for you after death? Who will fast for you after death? Who will donate on your behalf after your death?" Then he would weep — not because he was pessimistic, no — because he was awake.

Sign #4: They Are Unmoved

This is perhaps the most dangerous sign of all. They sit in the khutbah, they hear the verses in salah, they hear the ahadith — nothing moves them. They see sick people every day, they see people in calamities, they watch the news — no tears, no trembling, no resolutions. Why? Because the heart is full — full of the dunya, full of worries and desires and plans and attachments. Simply put: no room is left for the words of Allah to land. No room left for the akhirah.

The Companions: Hearts That Were Alive

But look at the companions of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam once prayed over a janazah. A companion heard the du'a of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

"O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, grant him pardon and wellness, honor his reception, widen his entry, wash him with water and snow and ice, and cleanse him of all sins as a white garment is cleansed of filth."
(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 963)

The companion heard this du'a for the dead man — and do you know what he said? He said: "I wished that I was that dead man."

That is a heart that is alive. That is a heart that hears.

And those same companions — many of them had nothing, no gold, no silver. When the hadith came urging them to give sadaqah, do you know what they did when they heard the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam encouraging people to give? They did not rush out. They did not leave. They did not act like it was not their responsibility. No — even though they were poor, even though they had nothing in their accounts, nothing at home — one of them said, "I have nothing." But they did not say, "Oh, I have nothing, what can I do?" No. They went out into the market, hired themselves as laborers, carried heavy loads on their backs, took the wages, and gave it all away — because they wanted to be among al-mutasaddiqun that day.

What Happens to the Person Whose Heart Is Chained to the Dunya

My brothers and sisters, let me tell you what happens to the person whose heart is chained to the dunya — and I am not talking about the akhirah yet, I am talking about right here, right now.

First: His affairs are scattered. Everything falls apart around him — his relationships, his home, his peace of mind. He is restless. His family feels it. His neighbors feel it. Because Allah has placed in the hearts of people a distance from him.

Second: Permanent poverty. He always feels in need, no matter how much money he gets, he always feels he is short. Those who embrace the world — with no permanence, traveling through it morning and night, restless — they never arrive at their destination.

Third: The dunya itself will run away from him.

What Made the Righteous Laugh and Weep

One of the righteous said something I want you to think about. He said: "Three things make me laugh and three things make me weep."

What made him laugh: a man building plans for a world that is already leaving him; a man forgotten by everyone except that he is not forgotten by death; and a man laughing with a full mouth, not knowing whether Allah is pleased with him or angry with him.

And what made him weep: the separation from the beloved — the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and his companions; the terror of what awaits on the Day of Judgment; and the standing before Allah, not knowing whether He is pleased with him or angry with him.

Brothers and sisters — when was the last time those questions kept you up at night?

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz wept one night. His wife saw him weeping, and she was crying as well, and his children were too. They asked him, "Why are you crying so much?" He said: "I just thought about the day when we will all stand before Allah, and Allah will send this group to the Hellfire and this group to Jannah — and I do not know among which one I will be."

He did not weep as much about his own worldly problems. We cry a lot about this dunya — but do we sometimes weep, do our hearts move, about the akhirah?

The True Balance

Today, my brothers and sisters, you will go home. The light will go out when you pull the blanket over yourself and rest. Tonight, just ask yourself: How much do I really care about the akhirah? How ready am I for it?

My brothers and sisters — those for whom the akhirah is the main concern, the dunya will chase them. Don't worry, you will not miss anything of it.

Now let me tell you what this balance really looks like. It is not 50-50. No. It is that the majority of your work — even if it is of this world — is done for the purpose and reason of the akhirah. That is what you need to ask yourself. That is what the balance truly looks like. That is what the main concern should be.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made this du'a:

"O Allah, do not make this world our greatest concern, do not make it the limit of our knowledge, and do not make the Fire our destination."
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3502)

Closing: Pride in This Community

Your support, your salah, your commitment to come every night — it shows that this is your main concern and your main desire. Your commitment during this month should continue for months to come. This month and these occasions are a refuel for us.

But I want to say that I am very proud, very impressed, by so many of you — those who are old in age, with illness, with disability; many of you going through a hard time when it comes to finances, I know personally some who are struggling — yet those people show up every night, show up for every Salat al-Tarawih and Qiyam al-Layl and Fajr and they come early.

I am proud of so many of you who are very young in age. I noticed this year — many young people making it to count the last 10 days of Ramadan, even because of the spring break. So proud of those young people. Even some of them donating from their own little money that they have. That shows me that this community is filled with great men and women — volunteering, helping, competing in goodness.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless you, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give you strength, and be happy that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has guided you to this path. Because believe me — there are millions of people, millions of people, for whom the akhirah never crosses their mind. For whom Allah never crosses their mind. For whom pleasing Allah never crosses their mind. And they may have more wealth than you, better health than you, a higher position than you. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has chosen you and honored you for this.

So be grateful, because Allah says:

"If you are grateful, I will surely increase you."